Thirteen Stars
by Seena58
Summary: Complete. Black Friday special. Sun child, Moon child, Daemontamer, Vampire. Four different souls, four different beings, one foretold doom. How are the stars connected to the legend? [AU, probably DarkKrad, DaiSato...]
1. Fragment Zero: Past, Present, Future

Friday the 13th. Beware ya'll, cause you never know what will happen next. XD And this is a story that… er… revolves around it? Um, I don't know anymore.

Before we get this started, let me make a few things clear (and please don't kill me because of it):

Krad is a girl. Yes. A. GIRL. Why? Uh… I don't know. Let's just say that I was debating the option this whole time for the last two days since the idea popped into my head and in the end I made him a girl. Don't like it? Well, it doesn't make a difference, cause she doesn't wear dresses… and will be explained later. Ugh.

Also, Dark and Krad haven't seen each other for ages unless under parent supervision. There's a reason to that as well, but that's also later.

Daisuke has a twin sister in this. Why? Well, I was thinking about having two girls and two guys, but Daisuke as being a girl all the way… er… Krad was enough. (dodges flying knives) Don't know is Dai's twin will stay for long, but she just seemed… necessary. For now. And her name's Daichi (I think I've heard it before as a guy's name… but I'm all confused now. Besides, they need to sound similar.)

And Satoshi is the vampire. Who isn't shocked by that?

Ugh, there's no certainty that this story will work out in thirteen chapters, or if it'll ever get there, but hey. Okay, I'll shut up with the pointless stuff.

Disclaimers: You do know that Black Friday is actually come economy business thing… right? And what would make you think that I owned this?

Warnings: Besides Krad being a girl? Uh… AU, strangeness in all it's forms?

Other: Don't kill me. I'm hoping this will end up okay…

---

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Zero: Past, Present, Future

In a world unlike our own, in a place that knows not of existence; in the dreams of another child… in the fate of another's hand. Peace befalls the land, evil ripples the waters, innocence is nothing more than a word of fate, and then there is the silence. Silence of peace, pain, loss, gain… of everything. There is something in everything, and vice versa.

Very few people now believe in legends, myths, and superstitions, but sometimes they can be very true. But there is nothing that they can do when this is so. There's no other way to handle it.

And this involves the foretold prophesy concerning Friday the Thirteenth.

Black Friday.

The day of foretold doom.

000

The whisper of the wind was what woke her up. Golden hair, golden eyes; pure light shone and Krad yawned. It was so boring sometimes, the scenery she had grown up with. It was her home and she loved the serenity of it all, but it was also extremely tedious and nothing ever happened to her.

That was what you got for being something akin to royalty. If she hated anything, it had to be the fact that she had close to no freedom, no time for herself, and she was always, always being stalked by that really weird butler guy… whoever he was. Ever since she could walk and talk, they had been watching her.

It really did suck when you were the only child in a place that was too big for its own good. True, that did mean that the now seventeen-year-old could get lost if she wanted to, but the butler was always there, and that was it.

Muttering something under her breath, Krad looked out the window and saw the other neighbouring kingdom thing. Or whatever. Completely opposite to where she lived, it was cast in dark shadows, yet it didn't look threatening or dangerous.

Day and night.

The sun and moon.

The two kingdoms that co-existed for peace.

The blonde couldn't help but wonder if Dark had remembered that today was actually her birthday. Oh well, only one way to find out.

000

"Dark-chan!" called a weary voice. Said teen turned around, pausing from his run up hundreds and thousands of stairs. His nurse, who was a middle-aged woman with wispy brown hair, panted as she tried to catch up to him.

"Yeah?" he asked. He always hated formalities, but some people had to act like that, and at least the suffixes she used now weren't so… high and mighty. But it still was annoying.

Not to mention that the purpled-haired only son prince-something-guy was now mentally kicking himself for being caught by an older woman who had known him since birth. He knew that his parents sent her to the task to stalk him almost everywhere – excluding the bathroom, of course – and they seemed to think that it was for his own safety.

But he really needed to get out and no nurse, even if he did care for her like a second mother, was going to stop him from going to the neighbouring kingdom. He honestly couldn't stand the fact that they never allowed him to go on his own, and that they had to make arrangements and all that other stuff, which meant he would have to wait another three months, and there was no way he was going to allow it.

Besides, how long had it been since he'd seen Krad? He hated the fact that they never met without someone right behind them and listening to their every word, and that both sides seemed paranoid every time they met at all. What was supposed to happen? Bad luck?

Dark really doubted that. He couldn't believe that meeting someone could do something like that.

The nurse's voice brought him back to reality.

"You know that you should be downstairs. Your parents will be worried for you--"

The purple-haired teen rolled his eyes; no other way to it. He grinned and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder confidently, "I know that. But I have to do my exercises, right? You know that's what the doctor's said."

"Yes, but--" she seemed to be lost for words.

"Be right back!" he called cheerily, rushing up the stairs before she could work out what was going on. The current stairway that he'd been running up of led to a sort of open room to the outside world. There were usually guards up there, but Dark knew for a fact that they weren't there at that very moment, and that was his chance for an escape.

It was cool outside, with barely a trace of wind and the teen knew that he was going to get the telling-off of his life, but he didn't care.

Black wings unfurled in the dark sky.

000

"Daisuke! Daichi! Where are you two!" grumbled a sixteen-year-old girl with dark brown hair. She looked around the backyard, but there were no redheads in sight. She scowled. "You two!"

Nothing.

Grumbling, the girl stomped back into the house that the backyard was connected to and complained loudly to her mother, "Daichi and Daisuke ran off again!"

"Not now Hikaru," the woman replied lightly, "And those two can obviously take care of themselves. My brother and sister-in-law always seemed quite capable of taking care of the two before this."

"But mother--"

"Hikaru, why is it that you want them to come back so badly? If I recall, you were the one to put up the first complaint."

Grumbling.

Outside in the backyard, a boy with amber-tinted eyes and crimson shaded hair that spiked out in all directions listened at as the argument came to a close. He was small for his age, but it didn't make him any less physically weak, and he cast a glance at the girl next to him.

She had exactly the same eye and hair colour, yet her own hair was more tamed and fell down to close to her waist, tied up with a ribbon that looked worn out.

Twins.

"Are you really sure that we won't be punished for this, Daichi?" he hissed.

The girl shrugged, "Who knows. But after the last time, we've got to make sure that there aren't anymore running around wild. Hey, With?" She looked over her brother's shoulder, where a white rabbit with red eyes sat, blinking patiently. "You know that, right?"

"Kyu!"

Daisuke sighed and nodded, "But this is the last time that we do summoning without an adult."

Daichi grinned and gave him a friendly pat, "Correction there bro; you won't let ME handle the summoning."

"But you can do it. I've seen it before."

"That was with a proper teacher though! And I can't do it in front of whoever he is now!"

"I know…"

"Sorry, Dai-chan."

"No, it's okay. We'll just take it at a slower pace then, okay?"

"Sure!"

"Kyu!"

000

A pale boy with cerulean shaded hair watched as the sun rose slowly over the horizon, a heavy cloak wrapped around him for protection. A pink tint appeared in the once dark sky and he could almost imagine the residents out there still sleeping, unknown to the world that he was aware of.

So much to be done; so little time.

He looked a lot older than fourteen-years, and his eyes reflected no emotion and was completely void. He would be left alone where he was, since no one else wanted to come here, and it was the only place he knew where he wouldn't be followed.

He hated being where he was, but where else would he go? He knew no one and the modern day society were scared of his… kind. There was nowhere to turn to.

And that sucked.

The sun was rising higher now, but he didn't flinch; he didn't care too much for the sun, but at least it repelled the others from him.

They thought he was a genius mastermind of some sort. He might have the intelligence, true, he didn't deny it; but there was something else that set him away from the rest of his family, and that was why they always singled him out.

What could be wrong? He didn't know.

He'd just never seen the logic of drinking blood off every living thing.

Satoshi sighed and wrapped the cloak closer to himself. He only took blood because it was the only way to sustain his existence, but that didn't mean he craved for it.

The rest of them didn't seem to understand. Oh well, they would just have to handle with the fact that he wasn't normal and that was final. There were other ways to go by it, but who really cared? He knew he didn't.

000

_A seer once told the four of them a horrible prophet. One of doom and despair, destruction and pain._

_And there was no way out of it._

_Their lives would be in turmoil, their futures wrought with danger at every turn. There was no way to avoid it, she said, and that the only thing to do was to prepare._

_But they believed that they could avoid it, and did not heed her warning._

_Or, at least, two did, and the other two didn't._

_As they turned to leave, the seer issued them a warning; not only of the prophet, but of who was going to be involved._

_Their children._

---

Okay, to clear things up:

Krad and Dark are single children in the (cough)kingdoms(cough) and they're watched all the time because of this foretold doom. (eerie music) Ooooh, whatever. And they were really good friends so yeah.

Daisuke and Daichi live with their aunt and uncle for reasons… well, they're explained later. Daisuke is the real daemon tamer of the two, but Daichi shows promise, okay?

And Satoshi drinks blood, but not all the time. He has a large family and they think he's weird cause of the way he is, like hanging outside and stuff. What? He turns into a bat as well? Meh…

The 'prophecy' will be explained in later chapters… I hope.

Yay! Black Friday (was yesterday…)! But hey, I'm not complaining! Stuff WILL happen, okay? Death, doom, angst, arguing, people mistaking other people's genders… the whole lot! So yeah! Please read, review, enjoy, uh… yeah, all that stuff so I know that I should continue! Okay? Okay.

Final note: Should it be Dark and Krad and Dai and Sato for pairings? I mean, Dark and Krad would work, but a vampire and a mortal… what do you think? I need to know this so I can… uh… continue? Yeah. Thanks!


	2. Fragment One: Unavoidable Part 1

Disclaimers: Pft. Whatever.

Warnings: Krad's a girl. Daisuke has a twin. Dark is... I dunno. This part is focused on Dark and Krad anyway. Go figure.

Other: Uhm... Something. I'm trying to get this story complete...

---

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment One: Unavoidable (Part 1)

"KRAD!"

The blonde spun around and nearly fell off the seat she'd been sitting on for the past hour and looked around as her mother entered the lavishly designed room that looked like a bomb had been set off. Although they were mother and child and had very little in common, Krad was actually taken aback; since when had she been last visited like this? She stood up and waited for the telling off she'd been expecting since last week. She knew it had to come sooner or later: apparently, it was sooner for her.

"Hikari Krad, child of my blood," demanded the (er) Queen, "What do you think you are WEARING?" She pointed at the blonde's choice of clothes almost accusingly.

Looking down at her attire, Krad couldn't see anything wrong with it. Sure, most of the girls usually wore those frilly dresses that she always tripped over, but what was wrong with what she had on now?

"I want you out of those… things!"

"Why?" Krad retorted coolly, well aware that her mother wouldn't come any closer, seeing that her room was an absolute state of chaos, "I like what I've got on now, and if it isn't dirty, there's no need to change it, right?" She watched as her mother's face turned dark red.

"Why… why must my only child be like this?" she half-screamed in desperation before pointing at her daughter again, who had both arms crossed and a half-amused expression planted firmly on her face, "Oh, when your father finds this out…" she left the room, unable to take the destruction that had been surrounding her upon entrance.

Krad, being who she was, hated the orderly life placed on her and it was going to get worse, she knew it. That was the main reason why her room looked like someone had dropped a bomb in it and most of her clothes were scattered everywhere; not exactly the type of room royalty would have, that was for sure. And most of the dresses that she'd been forced to wear for the last few years were also scattered around.

Now that she thought of it, her parents were bound to go on about marrying some guy she'd never heard of to keep the family line going, and it went downhill from there. She couldn't understand what was wrong with them; were all families like this?

She frowned, trying to remember the times she'd spent with the prince from the other kingdom; Dark. Yeah, he'd been more than what most could handle, but he was much more entertaining than the rest of them. At least he didn't act like she was supposed to be… whatever she was (she hated the term princess; it was just… just so… she couldn't explain it) and even when he had it was in terms of a joke, which she was open minded enough to understand. Not that anyone else seemed to get the joke, but what were they to do?

And what WAS wrong with her choice in clothes? Admittedly the jeans and shirt were pretty much out of fashion where they were, and they really stood out due to the fact that it was black and all, but who cared? Krad knew she didn't, and she intended to wear them for as long as she could. Admittedly it would send her father up against her, but she was also aware that most people tried to keep away from her bad side.

Okay, so royalty and status sometimes did help, but not all the time.

The blonde stretched and unconsciously pulled at her ponytail, which caught some of the sun's rays and made it almost blinding. The room was indeed a mess with the clothes, books, and the odd piece of stationary everywhere, but she was in no mood to clean it, and she wasn't about to allow some maid to get into it either.

Krad looked out the window.

Okay, birthday or none, this was a drag.

000

Somewhere in the spacious… ballroom-like-place, King(cough) Hikari looked up from some boring documentary or another and noticed that his wife was incredibly flustered and obviously out of it, considering how much she was muttering under her breath.

"Is something the matter, dear wife?" he asked; only half-paying attention to what he was doing. He was supposed to fill out some documentary for some sort of legal legistration or something, and he didn't even know what that meant, and he was tired, and he knew he was missing something important, but he couldn't put his finger on it…

"It's Krad!" wailed the queen, "No matter what I try to do, she's always, always disobeying our rules! I cannot understand how or why she grew up this way! Are we such terrible parents now?"

"Hn… well, this is Krad we're talking about," mused the king kindly, as she slouched onto a comfy seat, looking entirely put-out as she wring her hands on a handkerchief she didn't know she had, "That one has always managed to get into our hair at the best of times."

His wife pouted, "This time it was clothes! I've told her, again and again, that since she is the rightful heir of the kingdom, she should be setting a good reputation out there! And if she walks out wearing… wearing…" she seemed stuck for words and she clicked his tongue.

"No matter, she'll grow out of it."

"No she won't! And on her birthday as well!"

This set a light bulb on, right over King Hikari's head, "Her… birthday… today?"

She threw him a sideways glance, "What? You didn't remember?"

"Ah…" _oh shit, _he thought, _I knew I forgot something! _"Of course I remembered! I mean, yes, yes I did."

"Then I suppose you'll have something special for her seventeenth birthday?"

"Oh… but of course!"

The queen threw him another glance – that was filled with obvious suspicion – and she stalked off to do something, leaving the king to deal with his boring, boring documentary and now with his daughter's birthday on the line as well, he was completely and utterly screwed.

"Why didn't anyone tell me…" he muttered.

000

Dark landed gracefully in the middle of nowhere in the Sun Kingdom and looked around; it was extremely quiet for the middle of the morning. Maybe everyone was having an extra lie-in for some reason. He frowned at this but didn't put too much in mind, seeing that he had other things occupying his mind.

One of them was Krad.

He couldn't remember how they had met exactly, but since then, there had been four completely harmless years where they messed around and played like nothing was wrong. But after those years, their parents suddenly became more… possessive (?) of their children and…

The purple-haired prince frowned, trying to work it out. Ever since some time he couldn't remember, his parents had always avoided the subject of the Sun Kingdom and even about Krad, saying that he should make friends here and stop thinking about that place; but how could he? His social status made him almost unreachable to the rest of mankind and that, of course, wasn't a good thing, and Krad HAD been his first friend.

He tapped his head a moment, trying to get the memory to come back to him. They had known each other since birth, and he always used to spend time with her because of the lack of friends, and now he had snuck out just so he could wish her a happy birthday.

Oh yeah. His parents were going to kill him now, that was for sure.

But Krad was still his only friend – although they rarely saw each other unless it was one of those boring meetings, and even then they didn't get to talk – and if Dark's life was as bad as he thought it was, the blonde's couldn't be any better. Worse, he supposed: he couldn't understand what it was with girls and fashion, but Krad had never shown any interest in it, even at the age of FOUR, so now would be just as bad.

Dark blinked and looked at his surroundings.

"… ow…" Too bright. Almost blinding. Gawd, this place was definitely a death trap, and his eyes wouldn't be adjusting to it anytime soon, that he knew. So painful for him… Rubbing his amethyst eyes, he waited for the spots in front of him to fade and then looked around himself properly.

Okay, he was in the middle of nowhere and there was no one around to tell him off for coming in without permission. Not that that was the first, but it was still a bit odd, and off putting, now that he thought of it. I mean, how could they NOT see him! He was wearing freaking BLACK in all this yellow, golden, white… whatever it was place!

For some reason this seemed to make Dark think more, and that meant his head hurt again and he groaned in pain. Really, he had to stop doing that or his head would fall off one day.

Recovering slightly as the headache lessened enough for him to start walking, the purple-haired teen began to walk to… well, the giant building which led to Krad.

Like the blonde, Dark had been isolated due to his social status and there was no way around it. Krad was always the serious child, but seemed to have honestly enjoyed his company and they used to joke and play like any other bunch of kids.

Now? Well, who knew.

He'd seen the blonde a few times when they had the whole family meeting thing, but it was always from a distance and all that. Maybe now he would get a chance to talk to her without going on about politics or whatever the adults talked about.

That and he really needed to tell his childhood friend that pale/bright colours really didn't suit her. She was pale enough as she was.

Brushing himself off again and striding off towards the castle, Dark decided to stop thinking and start doing.

Besides, he had a present to deliver.

000

The Moon Kingdom was currently tearing the place apart as soon as they were told that their only son had practically disappeared off the face of the earth.

Of course, when the nurse told him that he had gone to the Sun Kingdom, that made them tear the place up even faster.

Okay, so they were a bit on the mental side.

"How could you let him run off like that!" the king yelled while his wife looked out the window anxiously. "We need to teach that boy some discipline!"

"We've taught him everything!" wailed the queen. "Why did he have to do that now! We've got planning to do!"

The yelling/bellowing king stopped, "What?"

She also stopped wringing her hands, "What?" she echoed.

"What are you talking about, you mad woman?"

"Mad? I'm not mad!" she shrieked, "And I was talking about the whole engagement that we were supposed to be planning for him in secret! Oh, the disaster of us all!"

"You majesty!" yelled a guard, tripping over his feet as he rushed into the room. That, and he was panting for his life, "We are prepared to leave to the Sun kingdom in search of your son the prince!"

"Whatever," muttered the king, "Let us be off!"

"How could you forget that?" bellowed the queen as he ran off, to avoid further reprimands.

Yeah, life was cruel.

000

With a sigh, Krad tossed a book to the floor, not interested on reading or anything, and she was definitely not going out there to be haggled by the servants or her mother. Hm… her father would know as well by now, but nothing was going to make her change her mind. She liked these clothes and what difference did it make? None, as far as she knew.

How long had it been since she'd cleaned up her room? She frowned and contemplated for a moment, kicking one of the annoying dresses out of the way. No, she just couldn't remember anymore. But it wasn't the sort of mess that made an odour; more of a throw this here and don't pick it up mess. And she made clear instructions for no one to touch her room at all. That or suffer pain of death: well, okay, she wasn't that cruel and all, but she liked the mess that way it was so there.

Striding over to the balcony that was connected to her room, she managed to receive the shock of her life when a purple-haired, leather-clad figure popped out of nowhere. Her reaction? Hit him over the head; which she did with extreme ferocity.

"You… you idiot!" she burst out indignantly as the figure groaned in obvious pain. "What the hell are you doing here!"

Dark grinned and rubbed his head before landing on the balcony and making his wings disappear just like that. Without further ado, he embraced his childhood friend.

"Happy birthday Krad-chan!" he cheered. Then he noticed the state of both her room and what she was wearing, "Whoa… you're allowed to get away with this?"

"Well, they know they can't force me to do anything I don't want to do," replied the blonde as she re-entered the room. "And what are you doing here anyway?" He hadn't been accompanied by anyone, so did that mean…

"It's your birthday! Why wouldn't I be here?" Dark seemed insulted by this question, "And this is the first time we've seen each other without someone breathing down our backs!" He whipped out a small box and handed it over to her. It was a plain cube-shaped thing, but was tied up with a ribbon of dark blue and Krad opened it curiously.

"Okay…" she gave him a long, blank look, "And when did you start to think that I like hair accessories?"

The purple-haired teen was shocked, "Wha-? Are you saying that--" He stopped when Krad laughed playfully and pushed him, making him unbalance and fall over himself.

"I'm kidding, okay? You stupid prince," she scoffed and holding up the golden cross that Dark had just given him, "Still as stupid as I thought you were. And thank you."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

"Hn…" Krad suddenly became incredibly thoughtful as Dark stood up and dusted himself off. Taking a seat next to her, he inclined his head and waited for her to speak. "How long has it been now?"

He blinked, "What?"

The blonde sighed and looked up at him, "How long has it been since we were allowed to speak like this without people breathing down our necks?" she emphasized.

It came to him, "Oh. That's right. I'm going to be in trouble, won't I?" He shrugged it off, "Oh well."

"Can you answer the question?" Krad repeated, looking agitated now and her grip on the cross tightened somewhat.

"Yeah," Dark nodded, "I know how long it's been.

"Thirteen years."

000

_Evil will befall the world… there is no way to escape it, for you cannot run and hide from this fact, and there is no way around it._

_If you had paid heed to what I had said, then you will follow these instructions. Only fools believe otherwise, and that is what you cannot do; no one can change fate, no one ever will._

_If you are not prepared for what will happen in time… then there is no other way around it…_

---

Hm... I didn't get as much feedback as I wanted it to, but no matter. As long as it didn't fall flat on its face I'm not complaining.

Just in case you think otherwise, Dark and Krad just know each other as friends. At this point. Who knows about the future...

Reviews:

Shimmering Solitude: I know, that's what made me so confused in the first place. And I'll never watch the anime. (sobs) Ah well, what's done is done, and she isn't that important.

Hakudoshi-chan: I think that was one of the reason's why I made him a girl. XD Well, here's the update.

kittenoftime: Okay... I'm still thinking about how Dai and Sato are going to get along... Dark and Krad have it easier, they know each other, to say the least. XD

Blues-Angels-Wings: Here's an update! Enjoy!

kyo's little koneko: Thanks for the comments and all. Interesting, huh? It's only just begun...

Okay, look out for part 2 of this story... next week. We learn a little bit about Daisuke and Satoshi and Daichi, but who knows... (shrugs) Onwards we go!


	3. Fragment Two: Unavoidable Part 2

Disclaimers: Who ever said I owned this?

Warnings: Krad's a girl. Daisuke has a twin. Dark is... I dunno. Whoo-hoo. Back in the er… real world with Daisuke, Daichi and… Satoshi…

Other: Uh…

---

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Two: Unavoidable (Part 2)

Daisuke sighed and allowed a hand to pass through his unruly locks of hair, which, no matter what he did, would just not stay down. Not that it looked bad or anything, but still… he sighed again and looked up to where his twin sister was currently muttering something under her breath.

The two Niwa twins were currently at an empty lot where there was nothing but grass, grass and more grass, and it was located just out of the town that they lived in: as Daichi had pointed out, it was a good thing that they lived quite close to the outskirts or who knew what would happen. Somewhere out there, there were a couple of trees and the odd bush, but otherwise it was isolated from monsters and wild creatures.

The redhead watched as his younger twin continued to mutter under her breath for a moment, frowning. She really did look like him, yet for some reason her hair managed to stay more down, to say the least; maybe it came from the mother's side, while he got his hair from the father's side. It was all very confusing in the end so he had to stop thinking.

Looking up, Daichi noticed how out-of-it her brother was and went over to him, waving a hand over his face; "Hey, Dai-chan?"

"… Huh?" Daisuke jerked out of his faze and gave her a quizzical look, "Something the matter Daichi?"

"Well, I can't sense the daemon anywhere," the girl mumbled in displeasure, fumbling with the edge of her shirt in annoyance, "I know With can sense it, but I can't seem to feel anything!"

"Maybe you're trying too hard…" Daisuke began, trying to pacify her. She just fell back into incoherent muttering and the redhead looked around himself again, trying to work out what to do now.

It had only been two days ago since the little mistake had happened, but he knew that Daichi was placing the blame entirely on her part – which was true, he supposed – but it was still strange, what happened in the end…

000

"_Daichi! Daisuke!" Hikaru, their cousin, yelled threateningly as she chased the female twin out of the house, "Get back here!"_

_"What did I do?" she teased back in a whiny-annoying sort of tone, which made Daisuke block his ears just for the sake of it, "We haven't done anything at all! This is discrimination!"_

_Daisuke blinked at this and unplugged his ears, "It is?"_

_She shrugged carelessly at this and stuck her tongue out at the older girl, "Nyah! What have you got to say to that?"_

_Fuming, the brunette looked ready to rush up at them and hit them over the head with something hard. With this, Daichi bolted away with Daisuke close behind her, calling his apologies on her behalf._

_It was sometime later when the two were walking down the outskirts of town that Daisuke decided to voice something very important to his sister, which she seemed to have forgotten; "We're going to be late for class now."_

_"What!" she demanded, and then it hit her, "Oh no! I did it again! And Hikaru is going to kill me!" She looked honestly distressed and he patted her on the shoulder for comfort, "I'm so sorry nii-chan!"_

_He smiled calmly and sweat dropped slightly as she continued her own demise of doom… or something of the sort, "It's okay. One day won't hurt anyone. We'll just explain the situation next time."_

_"But you know he doesn't understand!" she wailed back angrily, "He always says that I'm the one who creates the trouble and as much as that is true, I can't help it! It's in my nature!"_

_Daisuke couldn't help but laugh at this and the two walked around until they reached an empty plain that was used for summoning daemons; the unworldly monsters that not only roamed the empty, abandoned lands but made great friends/pets if controlled and treated properly. By this time, Daichi seemed to have recovered nicely and the two were now throwing insults at one another for the sake of it, but Daisuke suddenly stopped and stared._

_She blinked, "Dai-chan? What's going on?" He pointed at a small group in the middle of the summoning area and she blanched, looking disgusted as she understood, "What? Them again!"_

_"We better go now," he muttered in reply, not wanting to be seen by them. But it seemed that they were too late because the group came up to them faster than they thought possible._

_"Well well well, look who we've got here," said a black-haired boy with an evil smirk on his face, "Still tagging around you're brother, Niwa?"_

_"Saehara…" began Daisuke, frowning slightly. The raven-haired boy had been his best friend for a good ten years, but for one reason or another Daichi and Takeshi didn't seem to get along at all._

_Daichi seemed unfazed at this, "I don't see the problem with that, you know, Saehara," she replied coolly, "And what are you boys doing here without adult supervision?"_

_Takeshi glowered at her, seeing that he was unable to provoke her into getting angry; yet. He inclined his head and resumed his smirking, "So, Niwa, have you been able to summon a monster yet? I heard that you couldn't even get the basic ones to listen to you!"_

_She remained silent, almost thoughtful as he continued._

_"Everyone knows that you're a failure in this sector, so why don't you run back home to your mummy and daddy, cause we all know that you won't be able to protect yourself!"_

_Daisuke frowned at this, "Saehara…" he warned softly. Daichi stopped him however, and tugged at his sleeve gently._

_"Guess I'll just have to try again, huh?" she said, loud enough for the snickering group to hear and she strode over to them, whipping out a small dagger that had a plain hilt. They stopped and were alarmed for a moment, but she went right past them and flicked her hair back casually._

_"Daichi--" Daisuke began, but the look in her eyes told him that he shouldn't interfere, so he stopped; not that it would stop him from getting ready for a counter-spell. He never knew what his twin could do next._

_Without a moment of hesitation, the girl began to chant, but her words were strung together so that no one could make out the words. She waved the dagger around experimentally, but didn't use it to draw blood. Rather, it was used to scratch the ground below her and the chanting continued._

_Takeshi and his… cronies watched, waiting for the failure to happen and make a joke out of it, But Daisuke thought otherwise and he frowned; he had never heard of this spell before, so why… and where had she'd heard it? Or was she making it up on the spot?_

_Well, either way it wasn't going to turn out good._

_But before he could even issue a half-warning, the world seemed to explode under their feet._

000

"I don't know what you were thinking, but it wasn't anything good," Daisuke reprimanded his sister, who laughed nervously. "Someone could have died and you know it!"

"But you should have seen Saehara's face," she insisted sincerely, "I know that all that was my fault, but they were really beginning to get on my nerves, so I just thought a small scare would do them some good…" When she saw the look that he gave her, she sighed, "Okay, so he broke a few bones because of it and for the time being he can't talk; so what?"

"We are going to get in trouble for that…" he scratched the back of his head as they continued walking around the empty area. "I mean, he didn't die or anything, but his father won't be happy at all…"

Daichi's smile faded, "I know. I'm sorry."

He didn't reply and they looked around for a clue as to what she had actually summoned in the first place. It could have been something or nothing, and With, Daisuke's pet/daemon was definitely feeling the vibes that meant that there was something there. And yet Daichi had a point; there was nothing there at all, and it was kind of hard to miss anything here.

For a moment he thought, but then gave up and decided it was time to use his own branch of magic – if it could even be called that – to try and sense this so-called daemon. With was hissing quietly on his shoulder and Daichi was muttering the odd word, but other than that there was no one to disturb them.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he relaxed his senses and allowed it to work on its own accord; unlike his twin, Daisuke had a stronger balance in his connection to the daemons which also made it easier to summon and control them, and it also meant he gained sharper senses. After waiting for a bit, he began to feel the pulse of life that differed from the rest.

He opened his eyes and noticed that Daichi was waiting for him to say something expectantly, "It's here."

The redhaired-girl muttered something obscure under her breath and nodded, "I thought so. And by the look on your face, Dai-chan, it can't be something good." She clasped both hands behind her back and blinked innocently, waiting for him to talk.

"Well, let's just say that I can only help you fight this… thing," he finally admitted, "And that, unless you can tame it, you'll have to send it back the way you brought it."

"You mean…" she spluttered, realization dawning on her face, "I HAVE TO DO WHAT!"

000

The damp corridors that filled the place were the same, as his eyes adjusted to what little light was actually there. The blue-haired boy muttered something under his breath as he shut out the sun that shone behind his back, yet made no attempt to actually remove his cloak; he didn't want to, anyway, so it all worked out in the end. And he hated being here as well, but what could you do?

Being one of the youngest… well, vampires, could make it hard for him, and his ten other brothers and sisters weren't exactly the nicest of people to be around with, so he usually locked himself in one of the rooms and stayed there for the rest of the day.

It didn't look too possible at the moment, as he was stopped by his sixteen-year-old brother, who was looking pissed off for one reason or another. He quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"So, little Sato doesn't want to hurt little mortals?" he teased venomously. "Afraid of what the mortals will do to you if you don't succeed?"

"Shut up, Taro," hissed Satoshi, eyes narrowing quite a bit as he took a step forward; but his older brother didn't look like he was moving anytime soon. But his face did twitch slightly, and the blue-haired vampire even identified a small flicker of fear; he smirked at this.

"Are you afraid of little Sato now?" he mock-imitated his older brother as he took another step forward, "I think you should be careful of what you say, _brother._" Unlike the rest of the family, Satoshi had cerulean shaded hair, which was strange, to say the least. Still, pale skinned and the whole vampire fangs thing were still in check, so that was enough for them to know.

The other vampire bristled just slightly before stepping out of range, eyes also narrowing, but he didn't seem to have enough heart to stand up to then younger one; "Careful, boy, or you'll have to face mother and father again."

Satoshi seemed unimpressed by this and walked away, the black cloak billowing behind him as so. He didn't care what happened; he knew how to take care of himself.

He honestly couldn't understand why he was still here, if he hated his surroundings like hell – which it was, in a way – but where else could he go off to? The sunlight was too bright outside and highly unbearable at times, but other than that there was nothing stopping him.

Trudging into the small empty room that he usually locked himself in, Satoshi leaned back against the cold wall and closed his eyes for a moment. Really, he hated his life.

000

While his sister practically screamed that she couldn't do such a task, Daisuke set about getting the scenario ready.

Both Niwas were actually daemon-tamers, although summoning was an important feature that took a lot of practice and patience; which Daichi just didn't have. And it was quite uncommon for people younger than eighteen to have some defined abilities, so how and why, no one knew.

Pulled a hand through his hair, Daisuke looked up at his twin, who was sniffling pitifully. "Are you ready to go then, Daichi?"

She wiped her face and clutched onto her dagger resolutely. "I'm about as ready as I'll ever be!" She knew that there was no other way around it, but hey, she could still whine about it if she wanted to.

"I think I've set the barrier up properly," he added and flicked a finger at the nothing before him, yet it shimmered like glass and held firm. He nodded and With hissed, hair on end. "Let's just hope it's okay."

"Okay!" Daichi yelled, and began to pull out a long chant that went off for, well, forever. But at the same time a small circle that glowed a dark earthy-brown appeared and for a moment there was a stillness that was unnatural. But that was shattered as something big with no defined shape leapt at her. She stopped and slashed forwards: despite her looks and innocent charms, Daichi was actually the better fighter of the two, and that could be seen through this. She jumped back and fell into a defensive position as the attack continued relentlessly. She frowned until and opening came out and she stabbed forwards.

It hissed back ferociously, staggering back, but she wasn't about to stop now. Even with such a small – and blunt weapon – she knew both pros and cons on the matter and used it to her advantage. Things like these were what made Daisuke sweat drop sometimes.

After taking an odd number of blows, but doing most of the damage, the undefined entity seemed to be out of stamina; but who knew for how long.

"Kyu!"

"Daichi! Do it now!" called Daisuke.

"Well, here goes…" mumbled Daichi as she began the spell. It was now or never.

000

The sound of chaos outside was what brought Satoshi back to reality, even though he hated it so much. Sometimes he had to wonder why they cared if he was there or not, but a sharp female's voice cut through the door. He winced.

"Satoshi! Mother wants to speak to you!"

"…" He chose not to reply.

"Satoshi!" she repeated in a warning tone.

Again, he didn't reply. What was the point? He wasn't going to go anyway. There was no point and he crossed his arms.

"Ooh… you little brat," snarled his older sister dangerously, "If you don't come out now, I'm just going to have to drag you there…"

The blue-haired boy wasn't paying any attention, because a dull wiccan symbol seemed to appear beneath him. He pushed his glasses up further with an amused glance.

"Summoning…" he muttered. Before he knew what was actually happening, the spell seemed to sweep him off his feet off to who knew where.

His older sister, Aeka, burst into the room with unnatural force and came face-to-face with a soulless creature. With a contemptuous snort, she destroyed with one hand and then looked around.

There was no blue-haired boy.

000

"Did it really work this time?" Daichi seemed to be faint with disbelief. But they had no time to celebrate because the spell began to react again and, as Daisuke ran over to join her, was promptly squashed by something felling on top of him. With jumped out of the way in surprise.

"Daichi--" the redhead groaned, "I think it didn't work."

"No!" she wailed, "I botchered it again!" She stopped her wailing spree and watched as her older brother got up and was now inspecting the thing that she had somehow managed to summon. "Uh… isn't that a person, Dai-nii? I mean, he looks like one…"

Daisuke inclined his head, "… I think we should go back home. And let's not tell aunt Aya." He picked up the figure – which was completely swathed in black – and they made their way back to their aunt's home without another word. What was there to say?

000

_I once saw the doom that you were blind to, and you refused to believe such a thing. Why did you not heed my warning?_

_Everything will happen in the hands of fate. You cannot avoid it, no matter how hard you try._

_Fate is cruel; live with it._

---

Yay, another chapter! Er… Takeshi was evil kinda, but Daichi dealt with him, huh? Now he's in pain… (evil grin) Uh… not much else to say, huh? I'm still working on it, though…

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Glad you liked the chapter. Here's the next one!

…: Ooooh… someone who doesn't like me. XD Okay, from the top: yes, I am aware that Krad is a guy, but we need a little change once in a while. And I did warn you beforehand. No, I have nothing against yaoi, cause if I was, then I might as well be dead. As for little imagination left, let's just say my brain left me. XD You probably won't read this, but I just needed to answer… just in case. Thanks for finding the time to review, though!

kittenoftime: … Huh? Haku-chan? Who's that? Er… um… thanks for the review? (Sorry, I'm lost…)

kyo's little koneko: Yeah, we've all gotta hate royalty for those sort of reasons. Well, here's Dai and Sato… kinda… yeah… (sweat drops)

Blue-Angels-Wings: Here's the update! Hope you like it!

neko-nya: Ehhh! Elope! … What a good idea. XD Hm… we won't get Dark and Krad into the picture until chapter… four… ugh… Krad hates dresses! XD

Thanks for all your reviews! Keep reading, keep reviewing, and who knows, I might be able to finish this story… for once… ugh… the pain…


	4. Fragment Three: Foretold Doom

Disclaimers: Uh… huh… believe what you will.

Warnings: Ahahah… look who's the Seer! And how it happened!

Other: Okay… this was… lame… but whatever. I'm happy.

_000_

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Three: Foretold Doom

There was once a seer who was respected throughout the land. She was one of the greatest of them all, and everyone trusted her word. She was a traveler, who searched out for the people she thought needed her knowledge the most.

But where would it take her? What did her third eye see? No one could tell, and even she had to question where her knowledge stood.

Even so, Towa did not look very old, in fact, she only had to look only in her early teens, yet her wisdom and knowledge overshadowed other seers. She made enemies because of this, but it did not seem to worry her a lot at all. Content with the living she had, Towa moved onwards.

She looked up, remembering how thirteen years ago, she had made a prophecy that ruled above all others. Even then she was afraid, unable to comprehend what her powers had been showing, but now she accepted it, knowing that her powers had never failed her before.

The day when it had happened still played in her head; and it was still a vague worry in her mind.

000

_It was a normal day; monsters were roaming the land with the only thought of living another day, children were being told off for trying to skip school or running off, everyone was content with the life they had._

_And yet, Towa could feel an unknown, unidentifiable aura that worried her a good bit and she frowned, not noticed by the villagers as she entered one of the more productive areas. It was festival time, it seemed, considering how many people were crowding around and just having fun, but she was too distracted to care too much about it._

_How long had this feeling been haunting her? Not very long, she supposed, but it was still worrying her a lot._

_She gave a small gasp as a group of running children ran past her and she overbalanced slightly. This seemed to be enough for some of the villagers to notice her and, almost instantly, they crowded around her._

_"Towa-sama, will you tell our fortunes?"_

_"Will my child grow up well?"_

_"Will I ever find true love?"_

_The seer couldn't help but give a small, helpless sigh and run a delicate hand through her silver-gray hair, but then gave the crowd a smile before replying in a loud voice._

_"The fortune telling booth will be up in half an hour. Be ready by then, okay?"_

_She received loud cheers in reply to this proposition, and Towa had to wonder if she was ever going to find the answer to that very, very, very annoying feeling that she kept on getting: oh well, she would just have to make the most of it for now._

_Telling the answers to simple questions was a breeze to her, and sometimes she wondered why she answered all of them. Some of then were so obvious she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, but it wasn't like they could see the future anyway. The worst thing that could happen was death, and more people seemed to avoid that question._

_Some good few hours later the seer had to wonder if there had been any point to coming to this town now. The pull of her powers had been begging for her to come that day, but she'd been unable to find anything of use. Maybe she was losing her touch._

_This thought made her bristle angrily. No way! She could not be losing it already! She was only in her early twenties, despite her looks and all. Ugh… what an annoyance and a half._

_As the last customer left none too happily – seeing that she told them that they were going to go through a financial crisis soon and lose his wife if he didn't remain loyal to her – she began to clean up what few items she had; which included the tarot cards and the crystal ball, as per usual._

_Before she completed this task, however, two small children rushed into the room like a whirlwind gone mad. The first child ran into the table and fell backwards on the floor, while the second one managed to trip over them and fell as well. The first one squeaked indignantly._

_"Krad! Gerrof!" He didn't even look like he was five yet, and had an unruly mop of dark violet hair. His friend, it would seem, had light golden hair and – considering the fact that she was wearing a dress – well, it was obvious what gender she was._

_"It was your fault!" yelled 'Krad', "Stoopid Dark!"_

_"Oi!"_

_"Krad! Dark!" cried out a woman with the same golden hair, who was followed by someone who was obviously her husband, and then another couple that looked like the smaller boy. "How many times have we told you to not run off like that?"_

_"You see?" muttered her husband, "That's why we never take them to these sorts of things. They're royalty." And obviously so, seeing what kind of clothes they wore. Towa raised a brow._

_The vibes she was getting was becoming a lot clearer, now that she thought of it. Maybe she could finally get a clear answer so that everyone could be happy. Er… yeah, whatever. She sighed._

_"Would you like a reading, then?" she asked kindly. The four adults, who were trying to catch their children and failing miserably so, looked up in confusion. Towa elaborated, "I'm a seer. So if you would like…"_

_The purple-haired man snorted at her, "We don't believe in those sort of things, ma'am. But thank you for the offer." His wife shook her head in the background._

_This made Towa flare just slightly, "So… you do not believe in fate…?"_

_He was about to make an answer to that, but Dark jumped out of the way and managed to tip the table over. Krad blinked at this and pulled at the end of Towa's robes, golden eyes wide with awe._

_"Your hair's pretty," she commented._

_"So's yours," Towa replied kindly, pulling the child onto her lap, "What's your name, sweetie?"_

_"Krad Hikari!" she replied, and tugged at her own hair, "Mine isn't pretty." It wasn't that long, but it was just so cute! Towa would have squeezed the child to death, but her parents looked ready to kill. Wait… Hikari… Hikari…_

_"So you're the Sun Kingdom's only daughter?" she questioned innocently. The king and queen bristled at this._

_"Are you trying to say that we're old?" they accused in unison._

_Towa looked away, 'Yes I am, as a matter of fact.' "So your friend is…"_

_Krad perked up, "Dark's from the other side!"_

_"Right. The Moon Kingdom then. Would you like me to tell your future?"_

_"Uhm… what's that?"_

_"No, Krad," her mother said firmly and reached out for the child, who just clung onto Towa tighter. "Krad!"_

_"She's nice!" yelled the now agitated child, "Not like you!"_

_Queen Hikari's pale face flushed a light pink at this, and she was about to say – or do – something, but then four more people entered; two were mortals, and the other two were obviously vampires, considering the clothes they wore, and the fact that they were hostile._

_"I'm warning you, Niwa, if you ever put another toe out of line…" the male vampire was saying. The other man shrugged carelessly._

_"I'm only here because Emiko-san wanted to come. First child, you know."_

_"And that's the only reason why my wife is here!" thundered the obviously insane vampire._

_"You're eleventh child, isn't it?" a brown-to-red haired woman said excitedly, "How do you manage?"_

_The other woman shrugged, but smiled, "Our type always have been different from your type, Emiko-chan. I'm just hoping they will grow up to their expectations."_

_Towa almost fainted at the overwhelming vibes that were now hitting her like hailstones. Krad looked worried, but she could only shake her head, and then recognized the male Niwa instantly._

_"Kosuke?" she asked in faint disbelief. "Is that really you?"_

_"… Shirube-san?" Kosuke Niwa looked surprised, noticing her for the first time, "You… you're still alive?"_

_The seer huffed, "That's not a nice thing to say to old friends."_

_Kosuke smiled sheepishly at this and his wife went over to them, smiling as she held out a hand, "You must be Towa-san then? I'm Emiko Niwa." They shook hands, "My husband told me about how you two had to travel together once. It was quite entertaining."_

_"You're telling me?" the seer huffed, "He was the focus of trouble!" She then clasped a hand to her head and groaned._

_"Shirube-san?" Kosuke asked in worry._

_"Uhhn…" she muttered, "Stupid vibes…" Why were they creating such strong vibes? Even if there was more than one person in the room, the vibes usually worked on their own accord without too much trouble… but somehow these ones had fused together and were really beating her brain about. It was too much for her._

_"Your fates…" she began softly; everyone who had been arguing stopped and stared at her, "Your fates are… in doom… the future is lying in your hands now… you cannot escape…" In a way, she wasn't saying it, but it was the only output and at least her head was clearing up now. She straightened up and set Krad down, who poked at Dark._

_Smoothing out her hair, she continued in a much stronger voice, allowing her words to make the message, not her brain, "In the coming years there will be suffering, doom will be the focus, death will be your partner. You cannot ignore this, and there is no way to avoid this. Heed the call and prepare for the worse, for you never know what will come to happen next. You must not run away, for it will always chase after you. You cannot run, you cannot escape._

"_Thirteen years from now, this pain will be in fact reality, and there is no way to change destiny's wheel. Accept it, prepare for it, and do not allow it to fill your heart with fear._

"_Heed this warning, and all will come to pass without much trouble."_

_The two kings and queens stared at her before all turning away in unison and sniffing, "You want to believe such a thing?" King Hikari scoffed, "Then go ahead. We're leaving."_

_Grabbing onto their protesting children, they proceeded in dragging them out, but Towa said softly and in a tone that made them freeze, "If you do not heed the call, you will pay the price. And since they know each other, your children are the ones fated to face this terror."_

_They left in a hurry at this and Towa fell back, gasping for breath. Emiko went around to help her and she smiled weakly, "I'm alright. Just a bit tired."_

"_Well, we best get going Rio," the male vampire commented, "Good day to you, Seer." They left with a faint swish of their cloaks._

_Kosuke frowned lightly, "Towa… was everything you said true?" He then corrected himself, "I mean, our children… all four of them, will be pushed into this?"_

"_Yes," she replied softly, "I'm sorry, but you must know."_

"_Then we'll prepare for it," he stated simply, "We should go, Emiko-san. It's getting late." They were nearly out of the small tent, but then they stopped, "Shirube-san, are you leaving soon?"_

"_Eh?"_

_Emiko smiled, "It would be an honour if you would like to stay for at least the night. We insist."_

"_Oh… sure," Towa smiled, "But honestly, call me 'Towa-chan'!"_

000

It was kind of sad after that; Emiko and Kosuke then asked her about their own time on earth and she had to tell them the truth. They accepted this fact and placed their only children into the care of Kosuke's sister, being unable to find Emiko's father, who was further off in the land.

Both children were to be daemon-tamers, she knew, and they had to be taught correctly. That was why Emiko and Kosuke found someone they trusted and that was the fact; it was in their hands.

Yet only one of the two would be pulled into the spiral of fate.

As for the other two children – Dark and Krad – they had been forced into isolation, from what she could see, but there was no way to deny fate, no matter how hard they tried. It was pathetic, really.

Towa sighed, looking up at the sky. It had been thirteen years since that time, and she hadn't aged a bit, it seemed. Yet the prophecy was going to go into play soon, and there was no way to hide from it.

It was just the beginning.

000

Okay… yeah. I'll be quiet now.

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Glad you enjoyed it :)

ginny brenn: Here's the update! Hope you enjoy it!

neko-nya: Dresses are evil, so yes, we're all in agreement now. Eheh… well, next chapter we find out what happen with those two and… yeah. Actually… I need to talk more about Daisuke's relative… if I can fit it in…

animefreaktyan: Aw… thanks for that. XD I sometimes question my abilities, but at least now I'm not that bad. Heh, I'm glad you liked the story and here's the update.

Kyo's little koneko: Actually, I'm throwing ideas around with the main plot-line, but hey, we can all improvise, right? Glad you like it.

Uhm… yeah. I'm very slowing working it out… and Dark and Krad STILL haven't met Daisuke and Satoshi! (sobs) They will eventually, but really, it's taking so long… ah well, see you next week and thanks to all who reviewed! (huggles)


	5. Fragment Four: Aftereffects

Disclaimers: If only… (shakes head)

Warnings: Uh… ceaseless ramblings that go nowhere… and Daichi freaks out when she finds out what Satoshi is…

Other: … Don't ask.

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Four: Aftereffects

In Krad's room, there was silence. And not just plain silence; more of an unbearable silence that neither one could take, until Krad got sick of it and threw one of her many pillows at Dark's face, who had been sitting on the floor.

"Can't you think of anything to say!" she demanded in annoyance, "I thought you came to do something more useful than just sit there like a moron! I thought you'd have something interesting to say. Guess I was wrong." She crossed her arms as Dark groaned in pain and rubbed his face.

"Is it just me or are your pillows as hard as bricks!" he yelled back, tossing it over and she caught it indifferently, "For a girl, you're a bit over the top, aren't you? Even I'm not that violent!"

The blonde bristled at this and you could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears, "You're gonna pay for that, you stupid prince!" She jumped over in his direction and before they knew it, they were wrestling/grappling on the floor. Thankfully it didn't last for long, seeing that Dark did have the upper hand.

He grinned, "Yep. I thought so. You're still a girl."

Krad glared at him, "Shut it!" How annoying; why did she have to be physically weaker than him! It was so unfair.

Laughing, Dark helped her up, "Well, at least you're still the same Krad I knew. I was a bit worried about you changing into one of those scary women that walk around like the world is below them."

She raised one slender eyebrow at this, "I don't know if I should punch you for that."

"Then don't," during the small fighting session, Krad had managed to get a few punches in and they really did hurt. "I want to make sure that my head is still in tact."

The blonde shrugged at this and looked around her room, trying to find something interesting to say. Needless to say, during the last thirteen years nothing had happened and that wasn't a good thing. Maybe it was because of who she was and the fact that she was indeed a girl, so that said a bit. Tch, she bit her tongue slightly to distract herself.

Finally, when Dark was certain that his head wasn't going to fall off anytime soon, he began to talk about his life around and about how boring it really was, but hey, it was better than saying nothing.

They weren't entirely afraid of what either family would say about disobeying their rules and all, seeing as it was done and that was final, but it was their fault in the first place for this mess. Whatever the mess was.

The two had been too young to remember.

But whenever they tried to put their minds to it, all they really could remember was a sort of dark tent with lots of purple and silver velvet… and some other strange things you could find at some of those more… er… shops that sold things that people just didn't buy anymore.

It was confusing to think about.

And by the look on Dark's face, it wasn't good for him to think.

"So what have you been doing with your life?" Dark finally asked once he had finished the recount of his – incredibly lifeless and boring – life, "It can't have been any better than mine."

"I'll say," Krad replied, rolling her eyes as she gave her room a sweeping glare, "All my life they've told me that I should learn the rules and all that junk and that one day I'll be queen, blah blah blah, and so forth." She twirled a strand of hair through her fingers, "They're even against me wearing this, of all things. And everyone wears them these days, anyway. So how can you complain about that! I don't understand it, and I'm pretty sure that everyone's forgotten it's my birthday today."

She groaned and flopped back onto her bed, "It's so pointless now," she mumbled, "And then they'll probably come up to me one day and tell me that I have to marry some guy I've never met, and then I'll hate his guts and then they'll remind me of my social status and it's not in my place to argue and complain, and…" She rambled on for a little longer.

Dark nodded sympathetically and looked out the window, allowing her rambling to wash over him; it wasn't like she expected him to answer, but she needed someway to vent her feelings. She was just so fed up with the whole deal and this was the best way to get rid of it.

Or go and throw something out the window. And hope that someone got hurt in the process.

The amethyst-eyed teen couldn't help but notice how far apart the two kingdoms really were and how… well, different they were from each other. Complete opposites, he supposed, but that was how it was all balanced out. Night formed into day and vice versa, and that was what the two heirs were brought up to do. Keep the balance; follow the rules; don't follow your heart.

The last part Dark had told himself. Because he, too, would be forced into one of those arranged marriages, and he wasn't looking forward to that either. If the worse came to worse, he was out of here and into the real world.

He remembered once when he'd asked – rather innocently – as to why his parents didn't… produce anymore kids after himself, and they sent him to his room, which wasn't fair at all. He'd only been seven at the time.

So what was in the balance? Why hadn't his own parents allowed him to speak to Krad with no privacy? There had to be some other motive behind it.

Did they want to make him miserable? A possibility at the most, but what was the point of making him depressed/rebellious and all? There was no good side to that factor. Or were they afraid that one day he would fall in love with other side of things?

He snuck a glance at the blonde, who was still rambling, waving her arms in exasperation. Dark knew that she was beautiful, and her own independency probably hadn't changed a bit, but did he love her in that way? He didn't know, and he wouldn't be able to tell for a long time. I mean, he had only known her for three or so years when they were still children, and then for thirteen years they didn't even talk unless someone was listening in on them. So no one could tell.

Besides, who cared about who he married in the end? Sure, he was supposed to have responsibilities and all that other stuff, but he was still an adolescent and how could you count that against him? Again, he got caught up in his own thoughts.

Having stopped rambling some time ago, Krad noticed the look on his face and concluded with relish; :He's thinking too much again.: Really. He needed to stop doing that or his brain would fall off someday.

She stretched lightly, doing her own thinking; she wasn't stupid enough to miss the glance Dark had thrown at her before during her ramble. What had he been thinking then? That she looked too much like a girl now? That she wasn't fun to hang around but there was no other alternative? Actually, that would make a lot of sense, but she definitely wasn't happy about it.

Both their lives were pretty much the same, with the heavy hand of their parents knocking them into the earth pretty hard and there wasn't even the slight chance of being allowed to do what they wanted.

But Dark had also disobeyed the rules and came to the Sun Kingdom without permission or notice.

What was going to happen to him now?

The blonde inclined her head, "Oi, Dark."

He jerked up, saved from his thoughts, "Yeah?"

"Do you know how bad it is to break rules like these? I mean, seriously."

"Er…" he frowned and scratched the back of his head, "I don't know, actually. I'll probably get told off or something."

Krad gave him a long look, "… Right…"

Noticing the reluctance in her agreement, Dark bounced forward, "What? What's gonna happen?" he demanded.

If Krad was about to say something, it was blocked out by a loud screech outside the room, the heavy beating of wings, and an earthquake that shook the entire palace.

000

Dabbing a water-soaked cloth over the pale boy's forehead, Daichi couldn't help but notice how… well, mature he looked. Daisuke had vanished somewhere for the time being, but she was sure he'd be back real soon. The boy had cerulean-shaded hair and incredibly pale skin… what was wrong with this guy! Ugh… Daisuke would know, she told herself, and she was going to get answers as soon as possible.

Rubbing her own forehead with a free hand, she grimaced and tried to get what was going on through her head. Okay, sure, she'd summoned a monster and had had to send it back; yes, she'd done that. The next thing that happens is that her brother gets squashed by this guy and now…

She sighed; now they were back home.

Literally, it wasn't their home, but since they were still blood relatives, there wasn't much more that could be said. Both Emiko and Kosuke Niwa had died soon after the twin's birth and… well, it went downhill from their.

The sound of the door swinging open was what brought her back to reality and Daichi watched as her brother closed the door behind him, gnawing his lip.

"So," she prompted, "are we actually going to tell Aunt Aya then? I mean, we are in their house…"

Daisuke muttered something under his breath and scratched the back of his head, "I really don't think we should. I mean, er…"

Daichi frowned, "What is it? Who is he?" She then decided to ask something more logical, "I'm not stupid. Summoning only works on creatures and… well, the non-mortals. Who, or what, is he?"

"Do you promise not to… er… panic then?" guessing by the constant shifting of the feet, the redhead really didn't trust her to remain calm in the situation: even now she was getting worked up.

"… I suppose."

"He's a vampire."

"… WHAAAAAAAAT!"

Plugging his ears to avoid the noise, Daisuke was suddenly very thankful that the rest of the family were actually out so they couldn't hear her. All he needed now was the rest of them to pile in, demanding to know what was going on. And he wasn't looking forward to explaining.

With seemed to be suffering as well, and was hiding under the bed now.

"I can't believe it! This is insane! He's gonna kill us all!" Daichi shrieked, having paled in a matter of seconds when the information sank in. "They're so evil and they drink the blood of every moving thing and… I'M NOT STAYING IN THE SAME ROOM AS THAT THING!"

Daisuke shrugged and unplugged his ears to push his twin out of the room. "Okay. Just don't tell aunt, uncle or Hikaru. Actually, don't tell anyone."

"… Okay, whatever," she huffed, getting over her shrieking spree, "But I think we should get rid of him as soon as possible."

He shut the door as she grumbled under her breath and With popped out cautiously.

"Kyuu?"

Daisuke faintly, "It's okay now, With. She's gone for now." He then looked over the room that was actually their bedroom. At the present time, the curtains were pulled shut so it had a rather… musty-sort of look to it. There were twin beds, a wardrobe, a dresser, desks and chairs, a bookcase, and two doors: one that led out to the hallway; the other to a small bathroom. The vampire was currently lying on one of the two beds and Daisuke noticed that he was stirring.

Had Daichi's shrieking woken him up? Well, that wouldn't surprise him too much, seeing how her voice could literally break glass. That was the reason for them not having any glass in the windows anymore.

"Ugh…" the vampire tried to sit up, but couldn't.

Daisuke hesitated, "Uhm… are you okay?"

000

It was blissfully comfortable being in the middle of nowhere, mused Satoshi. Okay, he was not dead, just knocked out, but it was better than being threatened by his… er… family. They were so weird and scary. He grimaced at this thought.

So what had happened exactly? He'd been getting the telling-off by one of his sisters about something, and then there'd been the summoning symbol around him and then…

Nothing. Like a hole in his mind. And that took a lot to do for someone like him, so it had to be something big.

But he wasn't complaining about it. He was happy where he was… it was better than the life he knew…

A sudden shriek cut through the silence and he winced unconsciously, unable to take in the shrillness of the voice. Ugh, he couldn't open his eyes, but he wasn't trying that hard at the moment. But then…

"--that thing--"

… Mortals. No one else would call him that.

Satoshi corrected himself with that. His sisters and brothers called him that as well, telling him that unless he accepted their views, he wasn't a vampire at all. His parents weren't the most comfortable people to be around with, but at least they never mentioned his so-called abnormality.

Why were they so… misunderstanding? Foolish was one thing, stupid was another, so how come they just never understood…?

It just didn't make any sense.

The shrieking was gone, thankfully, and was replaced by a voice that was softer, more… well, friendly. Not scared, hateful or…

The vampire cracked an eye open. If he knew time, then it'd still be day, so that was not a good first thing to pay attention to. Hm… no sunlight filtered in… wherever they were.

"Ugh…" he tried to sit up, to get his surroundings, but it was so hard. His limbs weren't co-operating at all and he fell back.

"Uhm… are you okay?" it was that same friendly-sounding voice that asked him and he moved his head slightly, catching sight of the speaker.

Crimson hair that spiked up like crazy, amber-tinted eyes that didn't hold a trace of fear… what a strange guy, concluded Satoshi. His gaze seemed to unnerve the mortal, who looked at the floor and avoided any eye contact.

"I'm… fine…" the vampire said simply.

The redhead jerked up and perked into a smile, glad that they were finally getting some form of conversation going. "Well, that's a good thing. I should see if I can…"

"Wait."

The mortal turned, confusion stamped on his face as Satoshi struggled to get up, ignoring the throbbing pain that had formed in his head.

"Do you even know what I am?" he hissed carefully. Okay, so he was a vampire, and a safer type and all, but that didn't mean that they shouldn't be afraid of him. Maybe he was just stupid.

"Well, since it was a summoning spell that got you here, you couldn't be human," the boy replied simply, watching carefully in case the blue-haired vampire decided to rip his throat out, "And unless you're a werewolf, what other options are there?"

Satoshi raised a brow; what strange logic the mortal had. "So you don't even care that I'm a vampire," he stated bluntly.

Redhead blinked and then gnawed his lip, "… Am I supposed to care? Besides, I think I'll leave all the panicking to Daichi."

"… Right…" how very, very strange. This person was definitely over the top and he was still smiling, "Where am I?"

"A village," was the simple answer, "I'm Daisuke Niwa, nice to meet you…"

Okay, nice to meet you… repeated the still-out-of-it vampire in his head. This person really needed to get his brain checked, "Satoshi Hiwatari."

"Hiwatari?" the mortal, Daisuke, repeated thoughtfully, "I think I've heard that some… where…" He stopped when the door was pushed open. Daichi poked her head in, noticed that Satoshi was awake and gave a muffled shriek and disappeared again, "… Uh… that was my twin sister… Daichi…" The redhead laughed nervously.

Although his face showed no emotion, Satoshi was incredibly confused and baffled, unable to piece together what had happened. Daisuke was looking over at the curtained windows and still laughing nervously, and then the vampire noticed that there was another… demon in the room. It took the form of a harmless white rabbit with large eyes and… okay, what was going to happen next?

"What are you?" Satoshi finally decided to ask, unable to take the pressure in his head with all the confusion.

"What? I'm hu--"

"You know what I mean," he snapped.

"Oh," Daisuke grinned apologetically, "My sister and I are daemon-tamers."

"… Oh."

There was a still silence for a moment and the redhead shifted unconsciously, nervously. More would have been said, but an earthquake rumbled around them and knocked everyone off their feet.

000

Far off in another village, Towa pulled the hood off her head and frowned, taking out a card that had a strange symbol on it.

"What is it that will befall the world?" she asked herself. "What are the dangers that the people will have to face? How will it that they will be able to take care of it? Or will it be too late?"

She scanned the card for a moment and then sighed, the wind ruffling her short hair in the open sky. Many of the residents were still inside, so they failed to notice the seer.

"It has already begun…"

000

… Dang, I haven't done anything useful this week. Feel so… brain dead… can't stand it… so yes, that's about it. Er… this chapter is… something like. Don't know what else to call it.

Reviews:

neko-nya: Fortune telling is fun, though! But if Towa was the bouncy, overly-cheerful type… oh my. o.O What happened to Daisuke's parents? Er… they're kinda… dead. (looks away)

animefreaktyan: Er… yeah, the reaction wasn't that major, was it? Eheh… (sweat drops) Daisuke already knew because he actually studies this stuff, but Daichi's lazy… and she's kinda paranoid now… As for Dark and Krad meeting Daisuke and Satoshi… it's bound to be entertaining for sure (evil laugh) but that's how the world turns. Thanks a lot for the review XD

kyo's little koneko: Yup, yup. It's still going… I think…

Hakudoshi-chan: Here's more. Surprisingly, I don't even know what the foretold doom IS. (gasps) What am I going to do! (I'm serious. Have to think that over.)

Bram: Why, thank you so much :) Yeah, making it sound right has to be the hardest part. Again, thanks for the compliment.

kittenoftime: Uh-huh, thanks! This story is going really slowly, though. When's the fighting going to start! And I still need to put Riku and Risa in it (they have roles in the tale, yay)! Ugh… confusing…

Blue-Angels-Wings: That would have been an interesting twist, actually. But… er… he has low blood pressure, which is stopping him from moving at the moment (where's the logic in that? He's a vampire! Er…) Here's the update anyway!

Er… writing, writing, and more writing. This is taking forever… Thanks for all the reviews and hope you'll be back for more! (hands out plushies)


	6. Fragment Five: Family Feuds and Fears

Disclaimers: Who here honestly wants to say that they owned this story anyway?

Warnings: Krad threatens Dark with bodily pain (did she?) Daichi freaks out about broken dishes, and Satoshi is still rather… passive, to say the least. Ah well, life will go on.

Other: Nothing really happens, now that I think about it. Maybe the next chapter…

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Five: Family Feuds and Fears

If there was one thing in life that Dark was never going to forget anytime soon was that life was incredibly cruel and falling face-first on the floor – even if there were clothes everywhere to soften the blow – was still painful. Krad obviously had it better, seeing that she had been sitting on the bed this whole time, but she still seemed rather disgruntled at the sudden… er, well, whatever it was, was very annoying.

"What do you think that was?" she asked, regaining her composure in a matter of second. She smoothed her hair back slightly, "And when was the last time we had to suffer such a weird attack?"

"That was an attack?" Dark's face was completely void of any sort of emotion besides stupidity, "On the whole, I have a feeling that we'll be getting a pleasant lecture with the parents of both sides."

The blonde sighed at this, "Just what I needed to know," she groaned to herself as she flopped back onto the pale yellow sheets of her bed. "And we all have to remember that it's still my birthday."

Dark got up and rubbed his face, "Aw… sorry Krad-chan. Never meant to hurt you like that."

Krad raised a brow, "Pardon?"

The door on the other side of the room gave an audible thud before Dark could reply.

"Krad! Krad!" yelled her mother, in some sort of frenzy. "Get out here right now!"

"Why should I!" the teen bellowed back, scrambling off her bed and beginning to shove Dark towards the balcony, "We all know that 'the outside world is a horrible place for a delicate girl like me'!" She mimicked her mother's voice for the last sentence, and the purple-haired teen gave a soft snort.

"If you're delicate, I suppose I'm just fine china," he commented, only to yelp when she stamped on his foot. "Damn you!"

"Shut up," she hissed dangerously, as the door trembled and Queen Hikari continued the yelling match.

"Well, if that's the very case, then you should know that you have visitors awaiting your presence!"

"Oh yeah? And who might they be?" Krad rolled her eyes, "More of those 'suitors' you keep going on about? Well, do you remember the last time you tried that on me?"

"You--"

Dark stood out on the balcony, both arms folded across his chest and an amused look on his face, "What'd you do to them?" he asked curiously.

"Well… er…"

"You didn't kick them down the stairs, did you?" the purple-haired teen continued, urging her to explain, "I mean, you did that to me and we became good friends."

The blonde gave him a half-glance before paying more attention to the door, which would fall off its hinges sometime soon, "Well, if you need to know…" she shrugged, "I threw some darts at them – along with any loose furniture I could get my hands on - and managed to get them pretty good," noticing the look on her friend's face, she added hastily, "They were tranquilizer darts!"

Dark couldn't help but grin, "And where the hell did you get them from?"

Krad huffed, "Do you really need all the details? Or do you want me to kick you out of here?"

"Okay, okay already. Peace," the purple-haired teen held out both hands in defense, "Don't get too worked up now, Krad."

She huffed again at this, but didn't say anymore because now both her parents were trying to get the door open. By the sounds of it, they had located a giant battering ram and were using it for all its worth.

"Why can't they just give up already…" she groaned.

"I guess that means I'm off--" Dark began, mostly to himself, but noticed something out on the grounds and cursed softly, "Well, I think I found out who your uninvited guests are. And they're not those suitors you tried to kill."

Wrapping a hand around Dark's neck, Krad began to slowly choke him, "I didn't try to kill them!" she hissed dangerously, but stopped when she caught sight of what Dark had been talking about, "Great…"

Right outside the walls of their palace, er… place, Dark's own family were piled outside, clearly standing out from the crowd. They didn't look very happy, however, and Krad could understand why. She hit him over the head with a tennis racket that had been sitting around close by.

"I knew I should have prepared for this!" she muttered to herself as she ran back into the room, leaving Dark to groan his head off.

"Hey, what was that for anyway?" he yelled as she pulled some clothes off the floor and streaked into another, smaller room. Probably the dressing room, but whatever. He didn't care.

When she didn't reply, he stormed back into the room and took a seat, waiting for the blonde. When she finally did step out, he noticed that she was wearing a dress that was midnight blue in colour but her hair was still tied back. Pity, but whatever.

"… Wow," Dark said, staring at her. But he didn't get to stare at her long, because Krad shoved something in is hand and then whipped around. "Huh? What?"

"Well, help me put that in my hair," the blonde commanded, looking at the ceiling, "Damn dresses don't let me bend down."

It was only then that he noticed that she was referring to the cross that he'd just given her and he cracked a grin and obliged. It fit nicely and he commented on her again, only to get hit around the face… again. He made a mental note to stop teasing her or complimenting her, because it would only be more pain for him. But it was still the truth.

"So, what are you planning to do?" Dark asked as Krad strode towards the door, where the parents were STILL trying to get open.

"Either get rid of them or jump off the balcony," she replied, while waving a hand at him to follow behind her. "You don't want to be caught in the middle, that's for sure."

Standing just behind her, Dark watched as Krad took a hold of the door handle and pulled it back. Along with the door actually opening, a number of people, who were holding a giant log of wood, ran in and somehow managed to ram into the balcony, which in turn collapsed under the weight and they fell down yelling.

Dark peered down in with a surprised look, "I think your parents were there in the midst of it."

She shrugged at this and began to leave the room, "Don't worry. They won't die anytime soon. Now come on, I don't think the reaction will be very good if they catch you on your own."

"Fine, fine," tearing his gaze at the strange scene below, the purple-haired teen followed his childhood friend out of the room and they proceeded on going down a various number of stairs towards the front entrance.

The entire castle was full of bright and happy colours. Okay, maybe not. The main focus was on the golds, yellows and whites, and it was pretty much blinding to the point that you'd have to wear sunglasses.

All the people who worked here – maids and such – bowed when they saw Krad and seemingly didn't notice Dark, who couldn't have cared less. He just needed out of the blinding light. It was just too painful…

He stopped when the blonde reached the main doors and pushed them open, greeting them with the most peculiar sight. At that very moment, Krad's family was having a rather… colourful argument with Dark's family, ignoring all bruises as such that they had inflicted from the balcony fall. And… well… no one was paying any attention to the two teens.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Dark asked.

Krad rolled her eyes, "Don't see why we should. This place is a bore." But when Dark pouted, she sighed, "Fine. But don't expect me to go anywhere far with this on."

He nodded in understanding and they left. Of course, no one noticed this because they were still arguing for no apparent reason. It was too early for that, anyway.

000

When the earthquake had finally decided to subside, Daisuke was on the floor in a heap. Satoshi was much better off, because he'd been in bed, but his eyes narrowed onto the curtains over the window, daring them to fall off anytime soon. The redhead waited until he was absolutely sure that it was all okay now, and then got up. He brushed himself off cautiously, only to remember something important, and he bolted out of the room.

The vampire blinked at this sudden action, his head finally getting around to the recover stage, but then decided it was none of his business and he really needed to get back.

But he hated that place so much already. The entire family treated him so… differently that it was just plain annoying, and he couldn't understand why that was so. Maybe staying here for a bit wasn't the best option he had, but it wasn't like Satoshi could move properly anyway. And it was light outside, so that would hurt.

Ugh; it just had to be one bad thing after another, didn't it?

Skidding down the stairs, Daisuke rushed around the entire building. The main reason to this was to make sure that it didn't collapse anytime soon… and the other was to check on Daichi. Really, she always seemed to get caught up in the middle of anything when she wanted to. And even when she didn't want to, it happened.

Of course, he didn't need to worry that much, because he managed to trip over his twin sister anyway. With a yelp, he fell to the floor and groaned in pain. And surprise. But mostly pain.

"Daichi!" he yelled. "What are you doing in the middle of the hallway like that!"

Their relative's house wasn't that old in style or anything, but some of the hallways were really thin and why she decided that was the best place to stay in, he'd never know.

Besides that, Daichi muttered something akin to an apology and got up, "Yeesh, that hurt. But that earthquake was intense…"

He could only shake his head at that. "And why were you just crouching here?"

"Hey, I had nowhere else to go!" she snapped back moodily, "And is that vampire still here?"

"Yes…"

She sighed, "I… don't like him. I want to go home!" Meaning that she wanted to return to the old village they'd lived in before and that… incident. Daisuke patted her lightly on the shoulder. He knew exactly how she felt and how badly she'd been affected by the whole deal. He had as well, but then again…

Turning away, he looked around; "Do you think all the dishes are broken now?"

Daichi paled at this, "Oh no! We're going to get in trouble for that!"

"We couldn't have done anything about it, anyway," he replied calmly, patting her on the shoulder, "It was unexpected and… geez, when was the last time we had to try and go through an earthquake like that?"

"Too long ago," she groaned at the memory, "and I was the cause of it as well, remember?"

Oh yeah, he remembered. "At least no one was hurt."

Unable to help it, she snorted and punched him lightly on the arm, "Are you kidding me? Aunt and Uncle were so mad at me, I thought they were going to run around and tie me on the stake or something."

"Okay…" He raised a brow at this, but didn't say much else about it, "But I think you should be a bit more understanding. You were the one who summoned him over here…"

"Well, it was either him or that monster that was trying to tear my head off," she muttered, crossing her arms and walking up and down the hallway, "But now we've got a bloodsucker here! We're doomed! Oniichan, you should have just left him out to rot and die and… whatever happens to vampires!" She seemed to be getting worked up at this point, but Daisuke knew very well that she was too scared to actually go ahead with the idea.

But why had he brought the vampire home? Weren't they a sort of race that was best avoided? He was going to get in trouble for this, wasn't he?

Hiwatari. There was something about that name that seemed to click in the redhead's mind, but he just couldn't place it. It was there, but not there, and it was bugging the hell out of him.

Daichi continued her rant about vampire killings and how vampires had previously killed many people – although all they usually did was take blood to sustain life – and was so caught up in her own argument that she failed to notice her brother walking away and into the kitchen.

A number of things were out of place, and a good bit of it was on the floor, smashed. Kinda sad, really, and they weren't going to be happy, were they? Ugh… horrible, horrible prospect.

Locating a glass and filling it with water, Daisuke past his twin, who was still ranting, and went back upstairs, where he'd left Satoshi.

The vampire looked at him with a neutral expression on his face and the redhead silently passed the glass over, which he accepted without a word.

So this was a vampire up close, Daisuke mused silently, as he took a seat on the other end of the room. He tried to keep his attention elsewhere, but it wasn't everyday that you ran into someone like that who didn't instantly jump out and try to tear your throat out.

"What are you looking at?"

The redhead jerked out of his thoughts, unable to work out what was happening. Then it clicked to him that he'd been staring at Satoshi for… however long it'd been. With hopped on his head and 'kyu'-ed softly, and he blushed in embarrassment, as said vampire frowned at him.

"Ah… uhm… no… it's nothing…" he finally managed.

… Strange, strange mortal. And why was he still staying here? Satoshi mentally hit himself for these questions, but they were so true. Why was he still here, when he knew that he shouldn't be?

Here he was, in the presence of a mortal and not doing anything about it. Judging by the way the redhead looking at him, he wasn't afraid of him at all. It was really strange, actually.

And he was getting dizzy again.

The sound of a door opening downstairs, and a number of voices made Satoshi instantly alert, and Daisuke jumped up again, his face paling. The vampire raised a questioning eyebrow.

"They're home!" was all Daisuke yelled and he ran out of the room, "Stay here!"

As if he could go anywhere, even if he wanted to.

He flopped back and his mind cleared a bit again. How long was it going to take until he was sufficiently recovered? Why the hell did he keep getting those stupid twinges in his head? Did it mean anything?

…

To hell with it. He didn't care.

000

And so goes another chapter. Oh joy. And nothing has happed, still XO I can't believe how long this is taking. I'll get there soon… I hope… very soon… must… get it… done… soon…

Yeah, onwards we go.

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: I'm working on it! It's just that world domination is so… clichéd. So yeah, I don't want to have to use that… unless it's a last resort. Thanks!

animefreaktyan: Yeah, it'd be painful. That and I have sensitive hearing and people were screaming all of yesterday, so put her in that and… ow. The earthquake didn't do as much as anyone wanted, aside from a few broken dishes XD there'll be more to it, though… I hope. Hm, raining boulders? (looks up) Haven't seen that happen for a while now… hm…

neko-nya: What's with the sky anyway? It's so cruel… Yeah, we have to feel sorry for Krad… We all change. For better or for worse… eh, it even out in the end, right? Eheh… makes me wonder how long it'll take for Satoshi to try something… mainly drinking blood… ah, shoot.

kittenoftime: Uh… they won't stay for that long, really. More like doing a task they were told to do, so yeah. Risa does have that ring to her, huh?

Blue-Angels-Wings: Well, yeah. I think so, anyway. Unless they had earthquakes all the time… hm… nah, it was because of that, and the prophecy coming into play! XD Here's the update, anyway!

ginny brenn: Thanks! Well, yeah, he is, but they're all pretty good-looking in the end :D

kyo's little koneko: XD He'd make a good vampire, huh?

Uh… not else much to say. But must keep… writing… (wanders off)


	7. Fragment Six: Falling Stars

Disclaimers: Yes. I own it (waves obvious sarcasm flag)

Warnings: Er… stuff… happens… I can't remember…

Other: We're getting there, aren't we? That's a good thing, right?

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Six: Falling Stars; Destiny Calls

Some few hours later, when Dark was finally satisfied with the tour that Krad had been forced to give him, they returned to the castle/palace/place-thing of residence and entered together. All in all, nothing had really happened, besides the odd glance or two, but then again, how often then the higher of social status walked around with no accompaniment? But the blonde was more than capable enough to protect herself, and everyone seemed to know this well enough to keep out of her way.

As soon as they passed the front doors of Krad's home, they were bombarded by a number of guards, who kept yelling something about going inside and talking to the king and queen and… yeah, that was pretty much it. The blonde ignored them and the guards moved out of the way to allow them to pass.

It was actually a long way until they reached the main room where their parents were waiting for them, so they had a choice: go, or don't go. Both seemed to make sense into their own.

Dark placed both hands behind his head, "So… what are you going to do now?"

Inclining her head at him, Krad could only shrug, "I suppose there's not much we can do. Might as well get it over and done with, right?"

"I guess…"

Upon entering the main room, both pairs of parents stared at them for a moment. They stared back.

… Silence.

Then, Krad's mother erupted.

"KRAD HIKARI, HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO YOUR OWN MOTHER AND FATHER! WE'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK AND--"

She snorted softly at this and muttered, so that only Dark could hear her, "Yeah right. I could have been abducted for ransom and they wouldn't give a damn about me."

"Well, they're very considerate then, aren't they?" asked the purple-haired teen, a small grin on his face while the queen continued to ramble on about one thing or another. It seemed that she had trailed off the main focus of her yelling bout, but no one was bothered to put her back on track.

Eventually, King Hikari decided to calm her down and now all four adults glared down at the two teens, who stared back at them indifferently.

"Do you know why you're here?" he finally asked.

"Yeah," nodded Dark, "'cause we walked right in. So, what's up?"

Krad shook her head at him, "You're an idiot." He stuck his tongue out at her and she elbowed him before returning her attention towards the indignant parents, "And why are we in so much trouble for something like this?"

"Because…" answered Dark's mother, "you are not allowed to meet unless you are supervised."

The blonde fumed at this, while Dark tried to regain his breath, "And why do we need supervision if Dark and I just want to talk! I don't see the point to it at all! It's so pointless and useless and that's why neither one of us has any friends and we're socially challenged!"

"Krad! Don't you dare speak to us in such a tone!" reprimanded her mother indignantly, "Oh, why did I deserve such a rebel child for our only heir…" She sniffled and fished out a handkerchief.

"And what do you mean by socially challenged!" bellowed her father.

Krad inclined her head thoughtfully at this, flicking back a stray bang, "Makes you wonder huh?" She waved a hand towards the vast room, "Um, unless you haven't noticed yet, I'm an only child." He nodded slowly at this, but obviously still didn't get it. "AND, due to my social standing, I don't exactly have ANYONE in this place to TALK TO."

Still, she got no reaction.

"Geez…" the blonde resisted the urge to hit her head against something incredibly hard, "Look, dad, mum, ever since I was born I was placed on a higher status level than everyone else here! WHICH, IN TURN, makes it harder for me to talk to others!"

Still no reaction.

By this time, Krad was fuming, but Dark just patted her on the shoulder, "I don't think their brains are working right today."

"I'll say," she snorted.

Dark's father coughed, "Anyway. Dark, you go home now. We're late."

"Hey, what's wrong with you people?" the teen couldn't help but ask, "I mean, you're so tensed up that it's not funny. What's going on?"

"…" The four adults exchanged gloomy, storm-ridden faces, yet did not say anything. This, in turn, irritated the two teens, and as they decided to walk off since nothing was going on, that was when the messenger burst in.

000

Daisuke rushed down the stairs and nearly ran into his twin, who was at the landing already, trying to help her aunt get the groceries into the house. Aya glanced up at the redhead, who stumbled a bit and then gave a bright smile, and frowned just a bit before speaking up.

"Daisuke, could you help your uncle with the rest in the car?"

He nodded in reply and slid past her, where the older man stood by said car, scowling at it. "Is something the matter, uncle?"

"Oh, Daisuke," his uncle groaned in frustration, "I think something's wrong with it again."

"Uh… huh…" Daisuke couldn't really think of anything else to say about it. "Are you sure it's just not locked up and you can't find the key to it?" Besides the fact that that meant that his uncle would have had to drop it as soon as he'd closed the door, but it wasn't entirely impossible. His uncle seemed to have a tendency to do something complete and utterly stupid, but since he was an adult, there was nothing one could do about it.

"No, it's right here," he held up the key to his nephew, who then nodded and fell back into thought. "I suppose you should just go back inside then; I'm not going anywhere soon."

"Okay," the redhead nodded and reentered the house and looked around. The hallways were clear and he could hear his aunt and sister talking about… something. Who knew, who cared? He didn't in particular and ascended up the stairs, back to the room.

As he expected, the vampire was still lying there, and now scowling at him. Daisuke laughed nervously; what was he supposed to do now? Knowing what he'd been taught about vampires, they were still very dangerous. It wasn't that them drinking human blood either killed them or made them into vampires as well – it was a possibility and all but… you know – that scared him, but the fact that the reactions of the rest of the village would be the end of the world. Okay, he was still kinda scared of the guy, but after watching Daichi trying to do her own summoning, anything besides that was better.

Hesitantly, and well-aware that he was being watched, the redhead went over to the desk and sat down, where he was instantly joined by With, who had been hiding a good way away from Satoshi, who was still scowling.

…

…

Silence.

"Er…" began Daisuke, shifting uncomfortably when the silence became too much for him to handle, "So… uh… are you feeling okay now?"

"… I suppose." Satoshi replied bluntly.

His tone of voice practically screamed the end of a conversation, and something about that fact wasn't a good thing and the redhead sweat dropped. He almost felt like he was being analysed for something and for some reason, and he just couldn't place it.

It was very unnerving.

"Am I disturbing you?" asked Daisuke, feeling REALLY uncomfortable now, "Then maybe I should go--"

He was about to open the door, but the vampire said something that caught him completely off-guard.

"It's too late. We're all doomed."

The redhead turned slowly, "What--?"

000

Waving a piece of paper like crazy, the stunted messenger gabbled something incoherent which confused the party in the large room. His voice bounced along the marble walls and got distorted, rising higher in pitch with each passing second, giving everyone a headache. And that wasn't a good thing at all. Krad's father decided to put an end to it.

"What the bloody hell is going on!" he roared, silencing the messenger efficiently. "Stand straight and report now!"

Krad raised a brow at this, "Wow, I've never seen him so serious in my life. Maybe old age has finally gotten to him."

The people who did hear this – that was, Dark and his parents – raised eyebrows at this, but didn't say anything as the messenger finally delivered the piece of paper without so much fuss.

"Sire, it's as the prophecy says; that doomsday has finally arrived. There's no way out of it, it's way too late for us, sire. I mean… we're all going to die! We should have been ready for it years ago and--"

The king waved a dismissive hand, "Get out of my sight."

After a hasty boy, the messenger scurried off and the door slammed shut. Then he pointed a hand at his daughter and the child of the Moon Kingdom. "You two, leave for now. We have a lot of talking to do that doesn't involve you."

…

When the doors slammed shut in their faces, Krad visibly fumed, "Oh, that's it. I hate being bossed around like this all the time. Come on, we'll just have to listen in, huh?"

Dark crossed his arms impassively, "My, my, Krad. What would your father say to such atrocious behavior?"

"Not a lot by the time I've through," she replied lightly as they walked down another long and winding hallway, "They keep acting like we can't take care of ourselves or something. So we might as well find out what's going on or I'm out of here."

"This is a pretty boring place, anyway," agreed the dark-haired teen.

It wasn't that long before the two teens found a side door that they could open without being noticed and they stood by it, silently listening in on their parent's conversation. Of course, they had to note the fact that the tone of their voices were hostile, and that couldn't be a good thing.

"So, what do you make of this, then?"

"Was what the seer said true then? Why didn't we listen to them?"

"Because we're all idiots. We believed that our own actions would stop it."

"Yes, and now… what are we to do?"

"We can't let Dark or Krad get involved with this. We'll just have to take this matter into our own hands."

"Are you insane!"

"But the prophecy said that our children will be the ones who will have to face it."

"And we intend to not let that happen!"

"So here's what we are going to do…"

They fell back into plans and muttering and Krad nodded at her friend before they left to Krad's room. With a sigh of frustration, she flopped onto the bed and then stared at the canopy above her.

"Did that make any sense to you?" she asked blankly.

Without even looking at her, Dark walked over to the now-destroyed balcony and could only shrug, "No. But I'm assuming that they're going to lock us up now and… you know, the usual."

This little piece of information didn't go too easily into the blonde's mind. "That's it! I'm out of here! Literally." She got up, after a brief moment of difficulty and stomped over to her closet, "I can't take all this 'protect our children' thing; it's never true anyway."

Dark watched as she pulled out a small duffel bag and began to stuff random items into it with wide eyes. "Whoa. You're serious."

"Of course I am!" she snapped, as she ploughed through a pile of clothes to find something more appropriate. "And don't even start by saying that since I'm a girl, I can't go."

"But it's true, though. You shouldn't go because you're a girl--"

Krad spun around and glared at him, but he ignored her and continued smoothly.

"—so I'll be coming with you." He waved hand before she could start questioning him and then added, "I'm just going back to grab some stuff. Meet you at the Gate, okay?"

Still confused, the blonde nodded, "In fifteen minutes."

"'Kay." In a flurry of black feathers, he was gone.

Now that she was alone again, Krad couldn't help but scowl as she tried to find something more appropriate. And she knew how much trouble she was going to be in when her parents found out. So she had to be in a disguise. It was the only way.

Sorting through different articles of clothing, it didn't take her too long to find what she needed.

000

"My parents always wondered why I was so different," Satoshi continued in a deadpan voice, as if relating the tale to himself more than anyone, "I never had that raging bloodlust that the others had and I was born a healthy child, as they always told me. They supposed it was their fault for having me born on a full moon; where purity is at its best. And they believed that was what caused me to be so… detached from the others. Not that they liked me at all in the first place."

Daisuke was silent, listening intently.

"But it seemed that the need for blood wasn't the only thing different about me. Sometimes I can hear voices from the other side. But the sun still hurts me, but since they don't go there, I stay for as long as I can." He gave a low-keyed, humorless chuckle, "My father was never happy with how I turned out, but my mother loved me dearly, like every other vampire before me. She treated me the same way and taught me the same things. But she also warned me about a threat that could not be ignored. And that I had to learn to defend myself to prepare for it. But as I got older, she grew distant from me. Was she being threatened? Or did she learn that I could never be like the others? Eventually, I just kept to myself."

Unable to think of anything to say, Daisuke could only stare. Why was he being told this? Or was Satoshi getting so delusional that he was talking to himself just to pass the time? Now he felt really confused and embarrassed. He considered sneaking out of the room, but stopped when he noticed that the vampire's gaze was now focused on him intently.

"Wha-what?"

"She wanted me to prepare for a doom that would involve myself and three others. One of them being a Niwa…"

000

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Dark arrived at the Gate. It was a portal of sorts, that flowed with different magical energies and allowed them to travel around to different lands, as it was said.

He noticed what Krad was wearing. "I'm suspecting that you don't want to be noticed?" She was wearing a dark cloak with hood that covered her completely.

"Well duh," she snorted. "Let's go before they finally work out that we're gone."

"I agree."

As they stepped into it, they linked hands, having heard that there was a possibility of getting sent to different lands if they didn't find a way to stay together.

"What's with the sword?" Krad asked, noticing what Dark had.

"You can't trust the outside world."

"Hn."

000

Daisuke was in a bind. His mind had frozen at this little piece of information that he'd been told. It was so… absurd. So strange, so weird… and it made so much sense. He now remembered where he'd heard the family name Hiwatari. Both his parents had talked about them and how, somehow, their fates were connected together.

And he'd always thought it was just a story. Nothing more.

Now this.

"Ah… er… really…?" he stammered nervously, noticing that Satoshi was getting up and moving over to where he stood, "A-a-a-a-are you sure?"

"Definitely," the vampire replied coolly, "And you must be the Niwa."

The redhead head instantly thought about his sister, but decided against it; she would just freak. "B-b-b-b-but…" He knew nothing about this guy! It was just so insane!

Satoshi pinned him easily to the wall, "But what? You aren't about to deny fate, are you?"

"Uhm…" Daisuke sweat dropped.

Whoa. Definitely freaky.

And that's when another earthquake knocked them both off their feet.

000

Landing, there was an unforeseen rumbling that made the two teens stumble forwards. Rubbing her forehead, Krad turned her head a bit and watched the portal apprehensively.

"What was that!"

"Dunno…"

Silently, they watched as the portal exploded in a series of different lights and auras. An earthquake rumbled and the two teens did their best to keep their balance. Once it passed, a strong blast of wind swept by them and Dark looked over at his friend.

"Tell me that I'm not the only one confused."

The blonde frowned at this, but didn't say anything.

That couldn't be a good thing. And the portal was now destroyed completely.

000

Sighing, Towa tugged a hand through her hair. Was everything going to go according to what she had said? She wasn't sure anymore.

But she was truly hoping that nothing was going to go wrong.

She just didn't know anymore.

000

Yup, things are just getting started. And that's a good thing in the end. Otherwise who knows what will happen next. (grins evilly, but then gets kicked out of the house) What was that for!

And before I forget, I've done a picture for the story---! (Everyone stares at her) And it's here: http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 19846979/ without spaces.

Whatever. But let me warn you that I'm not a very good artist, blah blah blah, and I don't really do fanart to make them LOOK like the original characters. My style really is different.

And if possible, could you drop me a comment for that? There if you're a member of deviantart, or just here, please? Thanks everyone!

Reviews:

animefreaktyan: lol. XD Yeah, I think we're getting there. Slowly, but surely. I'll just have to keep on going, huh? Thanks for the review!

Hakudoshi-chan: Yeah, I know, it was pretty random. I guess the fact that when I want a story to continue, I need to put in some rather… unnecessary things that happen, yet they don't seem to get hurt. o.O Why don't they ever break any arms or legs? I don't know anymore…

neko-nya: If I was allowed to, I'd shove most to all people down the stairs XD Do you think cursing the sky will make it stop? Or rain even harder? Strange… Krad's good either way. XD (and now he's gonna kill me for that…) Your head doesn't like you either?

Bram: Eheh… it was a bit like that in this chap, but Sato's just… er… yeah. (sweat drops) Thanks for the comment!


	8. Fragment Seven: Welcome

Disclaimers: Huh?

Warnings: Krad and Dark… argue… and they meet Riku and Risa. Whoopee.

Other: Uh… yeah… that's it.

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Seven: Welcome to the Mortal Realm

As the last remnants of the Gate were swept away by a strong breeze, Krad stood there, waiting for her eyes to adjust with the sudden dimness of the night's influence. Dark had already adapted to it, probably due to where he'd lived all his life, and was looking around already.

"I can't believe that that actually happened," he whistled, impressed, to say the least. The blonde shook her head at this and managed to hit him over the head when he passed by.

"How can you be so calm?" she asked, "I mean, sure, we're running away, but still…"

Dark rubbed his head and stared at her, "But this way they can't bug the hell out of us. And it's much better than being locked in those freaking big buildings that they call our homes."

Well, she really couldn't complain about that, could she? Krad inclined her head and shrugged, readjusting the cloak she was wearing to cover her hair. Underneath she had managed to grab a dark brown tunic of sorts, so that was good enough. But considering the fact that the only Gate was now broken and there was no way for anyone to get there or back…

Better safe than sorry.

She looked around herself and noticed that they were hanging in the middle of nowhere; literally. "Okay, smart guy. Where do we go first and what do we do, hm? This is the first time I've been out anywhere in thirteen years, and never on my own."

"Geez, do you think that I'm any better off!" Dark tugged at his hair in agitation, "We'll just have to make it up on the way then, huh?" Without waiting for her to answer, he began to walk forwards in a random direction.

Krad could only stare after him in disbelief.

"I can't believe that I actually allowed you to come with me…"

000

In a small cottage, placed in the middle of nowhere, two sisters hung around the window. It was a clean little place with a small garden and fence. It had no resemblance to the gingerbread house, or anything close to it – a very pointless piece of information on my part – but it did have that homely sort of feel to it, so that was all that mattered.

The younger sister turned away from the window. She was quite pretty, nevertheless, with her long brown hair done into a simple braid that swung just past her shoulders. Her wide, chocolate brown eyes seemed to scream impatience and she implored to her older sister.

"Why are they taking so long? Riku, can't they just hurry up?" she complained.

Riku, her older twin with short brown hair, merely waved it off with an air of patience, "Risa, just be quiet a moment. I thought I sensed something." This made the other girl pout, but it was promptly ignored, "Besides, you're the one with the abilities, not me."

"You know that's a lie, sis!"

"Yeah, you know it. But I though I heard something. Give me a second," Riku pulled the window open and poked her head out, right over a couple of flowerpots and frowned, "Oo—kay…"

"Okay what?"

"I think they're coming."

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Risa smiled happily, changing mood instantly. It was kind of scary, actually. "Ooh! Can I go out and greet them? Please! I want to!"

"Right, okay," the short-haired twin shrugged her consent and was pulled into a brief hug before the other ran out. Hiding a smile, Riku closed the window and watched as, in the darkness that plagued the night, her younger sister practically bolted into the unknown.

How long had they been waiting for this? The nineteen-year-old no longer knew. Sure, it could have been much longer, but their parents had passed away at a young age, leaving them to defend themselves.

Also, they failed to notice the abilities that the two girls had possessed. Strange happenings: but visits from one seer made it a lot more bearable, and when they did enter the villages close by, they were greeted courteously. That was enough for them.

Still, what would life had been if she had been normal?

What an interesting question; too bad they would never know the answer.

Turning, her eyes fell on a photo of the two girls when they were fourteen. She smiled.

Either way, as long as she was with her sister, she wasn't going to complain.

Besides, they had a job to do.

Towa had entrusted it on them, after all.

000

"Where the hell are we now?" Dark turned his head to direct the question to the blonde following behind him. Krad sniffed loftily and shifted the weight of her bag, glaring at the boy.

"How should I know? You're the one leading." She pointed out icily.

This made the boy stop and he seemed to notice this for the first time, "Well, what do you know. I am leading."

"Moron!" unable to take the pressure, the blonde swung her – rather heavy – bag and hit him square on the back of the head, making him stagger forwards and he groaned, tripping over his own feet. "How can you treat this like we're just going to be okay! We can't get back and it's impossible, might I add! God, did you think that this was just going to be a game! I suddenly have the urge to kill you!"

"Whoa, calm down!" getting up, Dark tried to pacify the fuming girl, "I know this is serious! And we'll be fine, okay?"

She snorted at this, but didn't say anything because another voice cut in before her:

"You kids really do have a lot to learn, ne?"

The person who had just appeared behind of Dark smiled widely, her brown hair flapping in the same direction of the wind that swept past them. The simple dress she wore looked well-kept and she seemed to hold natural beauty that no one other than Krad could possess.

"… Yes?" said blonde asked coolly, not trusting the girl. She had a vague suspicion of the person, but then again, she could have been paranoid. Oh yeah, she was definitely paranoid. This was the first time she'd actually faced a… normal person, if you could call this brunette normal. There was something fishy about her… Krad just couldn't place it… yet.

"Ah, don't be so worried," the brunette continued to smile, stepping up and holding a hand towards them, "I'm Risa Harada, nice to meet you, Dark-san, Krad-san."

"Heya," Dark shook her hand, not noticing a thing, being as dense as he was at the moment. Maybe it had something to do with being hit hard on the head with the bag.

"How did you know our names?" Krad narrowed her eyes, growing more and more suspicious by the passing second.

"Oh, that was easy," the girl was still smiling. What an… odd person. That was all the blonde could think. "I was told about you from one Towa-sama. She's a seer, and she met you thirteen years back. Do you remember?"

"… Vaguely," she admitted grudgingly.

"My name is Risa Harada," the girl curtseyed, "I am a sorceress with my twin. I'm here to take you to our place for the night, so tomorrow we can go to the local village and find out what happens now."

"What?"

Dark was not paying any attention at all. Krad jabbed him in the stomach and he doubled over.

"The prophecy is unraveling," Risa said simply, turning her back to them, "And you are in the center of it."

000

Engrossed with a thick book that would have taken many years to read – minus the fact that the text was at size two, nevertheless – Riku didn't look up as Risa ushered the two inside their homely… cabin/home/place of residence/… place. Flipping a page, she glared at the text. Evil, evil text.

"Riku--" whined the younger girl when she noticed that her sister wasn't paying any attention. She waved a hand over to a couch, indicating the guests to sit down. "Come on… I came back with them already."

"Oh? Risa," the short-haired girl looked up and nodded in her direction. "I was just reading something very… interesting."

"Mou… are you trying to bait me again? You're so mean!"

Riku laughed at this and marked the page before shutting the book with an audible thud. Then she focused her attention on Dark and Krad, who were just looking around at the vast room before them. It had a bookcase, a table, some chairs, the odd thing or two that was necessary for life… and then the doors that led to the bedroom and the bathroom, so that was it. But it must have been a big difference from what they were used to though, so she couldn't complain about them staring.

Courteously, she bowed in their direction, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope that you were not hurt on the journey here?" A questioning look from Dark made her elaborate, "The Gate was completely destroyed. And it is the only way for you to get here."

Krad crossed her arms, the hood covering almost her whole face and she scowled, "Who are you?"

"I suppose you may call us errand runners," the short-haired twin said slowly, "Towa-sama was and still is our mentor, and she only spoke to us a few days prior that the prophecy would some come into play."

"And what prophecy is that?"

This time Risa stepped up, having learnt the words, "'In the coming years there will be suffering, doom will be the focus, death will be your partner. You cannot ignore this, and there is no way to avoid this. Heed the call and prepare for the worse, for you never know what will come to happen next. You must not run away, for it will always chase after you. You cannot run, you cannot escape.

"'Thirteen years from now, this pain will be in fact reality, and there is no way to change destiny's wheel. Accept it, prepare for it, and do not allow it to fill your heart with fear.'" She shrugged lightly, "It's been thirteen years since then."

The blonde didn't look convinced, and Dark was just looking hungry and/or sleepy. One couldn't really tell.

"Maybe you should stay the night," Riku offered simply. "Then we can talk it over tomorrow morning. I am sure that it will make a lot of sense when you remember."

She allowed Risa to take care of the two guests for the time being, but was well aware that Krad had no trust for either one of them. Dark seemed to be dense enough not to notice anything at all, so that could be a problem in the outside world. But he would learn. He was a fast learner in the end, so that would make everything okay.

Seating herself, Riku opened the book again, scanning the pages for but a moment. She didn't have long to do so, though, as Risa began to argue with Dark about something.

"I said no!"

"But you know that it's unsafe! Come on, you've never used it before, huh?"

"Leave me alone!"

The brunette raised a brow and Krad reentered the main room, looking highly amused. "What's going on?" she asked the blonde calmly.

"Dark's just refusing to hand his sword over," she replied, shrugging, "Seems that he's acting like an ass again. Not that I expected any less."

Smiling at this, Riku could only shake her head lightly, "Well, Risa won't be giving in anytime soon. She's stubborn beyond comparison when she wants to be. The problems she gets herself into sometimes…"

"… Hn…"

Gesturing to an extra seat, the older girl leaned over the table upon which the book sat upon and watched Krad in a calculating manner. "I know that you don't trust us. So, what questions can I answer for you that might allow you to relax while you're here?"

"What happens if we don't want to stay the night?" shot back the blonde, but sat down either way.

"Oh, I'm not that stupid," Riku smiled serenely, "You two have been living in your respected castles almost your whole lives, so I can't really expect you to know that much about self-survival in the world. Especially the Mortal Realm."

"… Fine. Give me a clear answer as to how you know about the two of us."

"That's easy. Thirteen years ago, both your parent's and Dark's parents went to a carnival set up by a local village close by here. As it was, that was the time that you met with one Towa-sama, who is a seer, and she prophesized one thing or another that has now brought you here."

Krad raised a brow, "But we came here on our own free will. It had nothing to do with prophecies or the like."

"Ah, that's what you think," the brunette shook her head and stood up, "But what do you think caused those earthquakes? Why is it that the Gate is now destroyed? Your parents knew this all along and wanted to try and avoid it, as we've been told, and that's why you're here now."

"…" the blonde got up abruptly, obviously not believing what she was hearing, "So you're saying that this is happening because of fate?"

"And destiny."

"Hmph, that's what you say," she huffed and stalked back into the other room, where Dark and Risa were still arguing.

Riku watched her go, the smile having never left her face, and she sighed lightly, "Ah… teens these days…"

000

Risa pointed a finger at Dark, who was by the furthermost corner of the small, boxed room, "I bet you don't even know how to use a sword! Now hand it over or you're going to hurt yourself!" she commanded him sharply.

He shook his head bluntly. "As if! That's not even a possibility!"

"When it's him, anything's a possibility," Krad commented as she entered the room and went over to him. Without much say, she grabbed the hilt of the sword – as he was holding onto the sheath – and tugged it free, allowing the point to wave in front of the other teen.

"Hey! Give it back!" Dark yelled, but made no move to grab it off her because the point of the blade was too close for comfort. "Come on, Krad! Don't be so mean and stuff!"

"And what happens if I say no?" the blonde shot back coolly, watching her hesitant friend with amusement.

"KRAD!"

Risa whistled on the sidelines, "You sure now how to keep him in his place huh, Krad-sama?"

"And what are you trying to imply there?" the blonde whipped the blade around without hesitation and pointed it in the long-haired girl's direction. The girl shrugged and then smiled.

"Well, seeing as you're both in the guest room already…" she trailed off and fell thoughtful, "And again, I'd really advise that you don't sleep with your weapons still equipped. You'll impale yourself on that sword." She swept out of the room and closed the door behind her.

The thick silence that followed after that was almost comical.

Dark coughed lightly and then held out his hand to Krad, "Mind handing that back now?"

Inclining her head, Krad swung the sword around experimentally, finding out how easy it was to control the blade, "Why? It's not like you could ever use it anyway?"

"That's what you say!" he protested heatedly, "I so can use a blade like that!"

She smirked at this, but handed it over, hilt first, "Whatever you say, Dark, whatever you say." The biting sarcasm that mixed with this line made the boy scowl at her, but then turned away in a huff.

Ignoring him, Krad pulled off the cloak she'd been wearing and the bag that held what little essentials she actually needed. Underneath she wore a tunic with accompanying belt and some pants – why she had them in her wardrobe, no one knew – and she kicked her boots off before crawling into the small bed and pulling the rough blankets over her head.

Standing by the window, Dark turned his head to watch the blonde as she pretty much began to drift off. Life was so strange sometimes, he had to admit, and then there was the fact that the Gate had blown up and his parents would most likely be freaking out.

But then again, they were always freaking out about one thing or another, so that made no difference in the end.

Following his friend's example, he pulled off his boots and lay the sword and sheath close by. What an odd place; nothing like his home… if he could even call it that. He had grown up in that sort of surrounding, so this was definitely something… new to him. Krad, too, but she seemed to adapt a lot faster than one would have expected.

Lying on the second bed, Dark closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

000

"Do you really think that they'll accept it, sis?" asked Risa as she took the seat that Krad had been upon just a few moments before. The short-haired girl shrugged at this, but then spoke up after a brief minute's pause.

"They'll have to, won't they, though." She looked up to meet her twin's gaze, and knew that they were in silent agreement. "Otherwise both kingdoms will fall; and the surrounding world's with it."

000

Meanwhile, back at the Sun Kingdom, all four adults were freaking out.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE GONE!"

000

Ahahaha… we're very slowly getting there. I'm so happy! I think…

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Well, she's a very… er… independent nutter.

kittenoftime: XD Thank you so much!

kyo's little koneko: Uh-huh (nods head). Well… Satoshi is a more toned down kinda vampire… so yeah…

neko-nya: yup, that's the biggest problem. Well… er… rain is good? Eheh…

animefreaktyan: Well… it was kinda longer… so yeah. Next chapter next week… I wonder how much longer I can keep this up…?


	9. Fragment Eight: Average Vampire

Disclaimers: Still not mine.

Warnings: Daisuke and Satoshi… elope? No, that's not the right word… explanations of some sort… vampires getting annoyed… you know. That kinda stuff.

Other: Well, it's bye-bye to Daichi after this. And the start of Dai and Sato going to find out more… well, Daisuke wants to know more, Satoshi already knows. So yeah. On with the story!

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Eight: Just your average Vampire…

It hurt. Why were there so many earthquakes lately? It didn't make any sense at all, and Daisuke's mind hadn't been working straight since Daichi messed up the summoning and sent this… this… _guy_ here.

Daisuke groaned.

Well, at least he hadn't landed face first into the floor, which was hard enough to break one's teeth. He had come quite close to doing that a couple of times when he'd been younger; and that wasn't the sort of thing someone wanted to remember. Such a painful, painful memory.

Of course, since he HADN'T landed on wooden floorboards, that could only mean one other thing… "Get off me."

"Geh!" blushing furiously in embarrassment, the redhead practically jumped off the vampire, who just watched him impassively. "Ah… er… I'm sorry about that! I mean… er…"

Satoshi couldn't help but roll his eyes as the mortal got himself so worked up and confused that one sentence really couldn't have been made out by the boy. The earthquake amused him, though, and he could only wonder why and how it had happened. He used an elbow to prop himself up and was glad that he had gathered enough energy to actually move around and think straight now.

Eventually, he stood up and had to cover Daisuke's mouth to stop him from constantly stammering. "It's okay."

This meant that the redhead's blush turned darker, but at least he fell silent for the time being. For a moment, there was nothing but ill-awaited silence – and Daisuke was now wondering what would happen to him – but it was cut short when Aunt Aya burst into the room.

"Daisuke! Quick, it's your sister!" she yelled, worry written all over her face, "You're sister, quick, she's just, just--"

"Daichi!" squeaked Daisuke, falling into his own state of worried panic, "What happened!"

Aya was already bolting out of the room again, having delivered her messge, it seemed, "You best come downstairs! Take your friend with you, or send him home! Oh, the tragedy of it all!" Clearly she hadn't noticed that Satoshi was a vampire and the fact that it was quite dark in the room she had just entered in and run out of. Despite the fact that he was worried, the redhead sweat dropped. And he did so even more when Satoshi turned to face him, obviously waiting for an explanation.

"Er… that's my aunt… she's… ahaha…" then he returned to the situation at hand, "Er… I suppose you should come. I don't think anyone will notice the difference anyway!" After having friends like Takeshi and Masahiro, there was little that could surprise his aunt and uncle in his choice of friends anyway, "And the cloak will work from the sun… right?" He became unsure, not knowing anything about the vampire before him, and wondering why he was trying to be so… nice to him. Or whatever.

Okay, in truth, he was scared out of his wits, but he never really had a chance of showing it, and besides, he had gotten used to the wacky ways of his daily lifestyle due to Daichi, With, and… well, they seemed to be enough to really send the normality of life off the scales.

While he was thinking this, Satoshi was lost in his own thoughts. All those years of hardship and… well, being the black sheep in the family was all out of the picture. Besides the message that his mother had always told him, since he was old enough to remember, he didn't care about the state his family was probably in.

And he couldn't believe he was actually talking to a mortal who wasn't screaming like it was the end of the world. Then again, it wasn't like he talked to anyone anyway, so all this was new to him.

He noticed that the redhead seemed to be pretty hesitant and was shifting from one foot to another and then sighed. Well, he wasn't going back home, if he could call it that, so he might as well follow the mortal. Besides, this boy was part of the prophecy that his mother had told him about, right? Right, so that was all that he needed to do. Follow, and hope that something would make sense soon.

"I'll be fine," he said coolly. The lack of emotion in his voice made the redhead blink at this, but then managed a weak smile.

"Thanks, Hiwatari-san." Without further ado, he bounced out of the room, with With hanging onto him by the hair.

Satoshi followed after him at a much slower pace, making sure that his cloak was okay and hoping that it wasn't too light out. It wasn't that nice, the light, so why did it exist?

He stopped thinking like this and went down the stairs, where the mortal waited for him. The redhead seemed to have recovered well enough and was now smiling cheerfully and the vampire couldn't help but wonder how and why the boy was smiling so much.

Not to mention the fact that there was still that little prophecy that they needed to deal with, in one way or another. He was ready, but this guy… he doubted it, especially how he had reacted upon being told such a small piece of information.

It was just too much for his already overloaded brain.

"…?" Daisuke inclined his head, still smiling, but incredibly curious on what the blue-haired vampire was actually thinking. But he had the common sense in not asking any questions; it was clear that Satoshi wasn't much of a talker anyway.

It was odd though, but he didn't feel afraid with the fact that he was face to face with a real vampire. There were stories and rumors that flew around practically every village and it was the usual; beware the bloodsucking horrors, blah, blah, blah… so yeah.

So why was he so calm? Maybe he knew he was going to die but now…

Daisuke stopped at this. He was going to DIE!

"Kyu!" With hit him over the head with a tiny paw. This got the redhead back into reality, and he noticed that Satoshi was giving him an unreadable look and he sweat dropped, laughing nervously.

"Ah… sorry about that…" he muttered, before leading the way down a hallway that was then connected to the kitchen, where his uncle, aunt and twin were currently located, by the sounds of their voices. The redhead grimaced at the sight before him.

Both adults were bent over, looking grim as they tried to tend the long, jagged cut that was bleeding down Daichi's right leg. She looked pale and in pain, a bit shaken up, but otherwise fine as she wrapped a cloth gingerly around the wound. Blood split onto the tiled floor and the red droplets seemed incredibly out of place and she caught sight of him.

"Damn earthquake and dish shards…" she muttered, managing a weak smile at him, "Guess it was a good thing you weren't there either, huh?"

He rushed over to her side and bent down, carefully avoiding the shards of Tupperware that hadn't embedded themselves into his twins leg. "Are you okay! I mean, if there's still some left in your leg…" She waved him off coolly, although she winced in pain.

"I'll be fine," she told him, "Auntie already called and there's a healer coming over soon, so I'll be fine…" The fact that she was repeating herself was a clear sign that she was worried and less that fine in any other way.

"But Daichi…" he swallowed.

"It'll be fine, Daisuke."

While this was happening, Satoshi stood on the sidelines, watching with a hint of vague amusement. The fact that the mortal had a twin that looked almost like him - minus the long hair – was enough to surprise him just a bit and…

He paused and thought for a moment. There were two. So, then, who was the one talked about in the prophecy?

The sound of someone knocking on the door jerked them all back to reality and the twins uncle walked off and allowed the doctor to enter into the kitchen. The man scowled when he caught sight of the chaos and then bent over the red haired girl.

"How did this happen?" he asked coolly.

"The earthquake… she tripped… broken dishes…" Aya explained simply, and he nodded in understanding, before stooping down to help her up.

"I suppose we should check that in case you have any glass still embedded in there." He informed her.

"Na… I would think so!" complained Daichi, "I can still feel it!"

The doctor stopped at this, "Then why didn't you remove it!"

"Don't yell at me! Stupid doctor!"

"Daichi! Respect your elders!"

"Hmph! He's only three years older than me or Dai-chan! Besides, he's the family doctor so I can be as rude as I want! I'm the one in pain!"

"Daichi!"

As they stumbled out of the room, still arguing, Daisuke grabbed a dustpan and proceeded in cleaning up the mess in case someone else got hurt. It was so annoying when that sort of thing happened, and Daichi was prone to getting injuries that were quite painful. But it was either her in pain, or… well, the people around her.

Watching silently, Satoshi didn't seem to care too much about the pain and agony around him and just watched as the mortal continued with his cleaning duties. The silence that followed was quite unbearable, but the redhead knew that if he didn't clean up the sharp mess now, then… no one would get it done and then someone else would get hurt.

He had so many questions to ask – and for a good reason – and he was still trying to find a way to get the vampire back to where he'd come from; he'd be much happier there, surely.

Dumping the last shards into a handy bin close by, Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief and then peered over at Satoshi, who had moved back into the shadows, the hood over his head to protect him.

"Uh… Hiwatari-san?" he questioned hesitantly.

The vampire looked up at him, "… you don't have to be so worried, I'm not going to bite you," there was some literal sense at this and he paused for a moment, "I mean…" Okay, that was the wrong thing to say.

"Eheheh…" Daisuke smiled slightly at this, but seemed to loosen up at the fact that the vampire didn't mean him any harm. "So… er…"

"You want to ask about what I said."

Not taken by surprise at this, he nodded.

Turning his head slightly to face the curious boy, he studied him for a moment and then nodded briefly. "I'll explain it upstairs, if you don't mind."

000

Some few hours later finally had Daichi coming out of the hospital-like room with a bandaged leg and grimacing quite a bit. As it turned out, she had somehow managed to sprain her ankle along the way so, as the doctor had instructed, she had to keep off that leg for a few weeks.

She wasn't happy with that decision.

Both her aunt and uncle sat by, waiting for her, and sometime Hikaru, her cousin, had appeared. She managed to grin at them, but then asked the question that was always popping up when she couldn't see them:

"Where's Daisuke?"

The strong bond of being twins was probably part of the reason for her asking, but he was the only person who knew her and her own fears, joys, friends and enemies; which she seemed to have a lot of, for some reason.

Hikaru, who had been reading a magazine to pass the time, shrugged and didn't look up; "You should have been more careful. Typical for a girl like you to do something like that."

"Hikaru!" her mother frowned at her in a meaningful way and the girl rolled her eyes before getting up. "We left Daisuke back at home. He and his friend should be the only ones there."

The fourteen-year-old blinked at this, perplexed, "Friend? What friend?"

"Oh, some kid. I don't know. I was worried about you."

"Some serious-looking kid," muttered the uncle helpfully.

Daichi could only stare at them, "But… when and who and how? I mean, the only other thing in the house besides Daisuke and With was…" then it hit her and she freaked.

"Not the VAMPIRE?"

000

It was quite dark by the time Satoshi had gone over the finer details of his explanation on the prophecy and Daisuke was confused beyond comparison. The vampire shook it off and had left for the time being to eat or… well, whatever vampires did, so the redhead had just gone off and was now flipping through a thick volume that explained the basics of monster summoning.

And that was just the basics.

Humming a low tune under his breath, Daisuke really wasn't reading what was in front of him and was mentally going over what Satoshi had just told him.

Prophecy. Dreaded doom. Blah, blah, blah…

How did they get dragged into it then?

Er…

He scowled.

His parents had passed away when both he and his sister had only been… five, if he remembered correctly, and they had been teaching them the finer lines of summoning and the rights and wrongs, despite their age. Also, their past teachers had been teaching a lot about those sorts of things, and the fact that most people didn't even need summoning suddenly sparked a suspicion that his parents had been aware of this… prophecy and had tried to prepare him for it.

Would that also explain why Daichi was so bad at summoning? Perhaps, but she would never admit it.

Lost in his own thoughts, the redhead was rudely interrupted out of them as his family burst into the room. On normal circumstances, he would have just blinked at them and asked them why all the noise, but the fact that they were wielding pitchforks, torches, and about half the village population following after them was enough to have him gawking before becoming indignant.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Where is it!" bellowed Takeshi's father, ignoring him. "Where's the bloodsucking demon!"

Unable to comprehend what was happening, Daisuke continued to gawk. Then his aunt and uncle stepped forward.

"Where is it, Daisuke."

"We have to get rid of it."

It… it? Did they mean… Satoshi? Daisuke's eyes widened at this and stepped back. He didn't know why, but this strongly reminded him of witch burnings, and if they thought HE was the one to summon Satoshi then… he might as well be dead.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to keep as calm as possible, as With joined him at silent command. The rabbit-demon had been with him since he could remember, and there was no way he was going to allow With in the hands of these mad people while they were in a frenzy.

"The vampire!" this was Takeshi's father again, and he stormed forward and grabbed the collar of the boy's shirt, stopping him from moving. Both his aunt and uncle panicked at this.

"What are you doing!"

"Leave him alone! Don't do that to him!"

They would have continued to argue, but something hit the large man and the other two adults at the front with staggering force and they stumbled back. The window in the small room was open and, on impulse, the redhead slid over in that direction, where Satoshi was hanging by, looking as impassive as usual. "Er… Hiwatari-san?"

The blue-haired vampire grabbed his wrist, but only with enough pressure to stop the boy pulling away, "We're not going to hang around here. Come on, Niwa."

"Eh… but…" the sounds of panic behind him made him hesitate.

For the first time since that day, Satoshi showed signs of irritation and he rolled his eyes before climbing in, pushing Daisuke to allow him more space to get in with some form of dignity.

As soon as they caught sight of the blue-haired vampire, the villagers began to freak out again.

"Aaah! It's going to kill us all!"

"Kill it before that happens!"

"But I'm scared!"

"Idiots!"

Holding out both hands, Satoshi began to chant, but the words that came out of his mouth made no sense whatsoever and, as far as Daisuke was sure, it was in a completely different language. That and the fact that the villagers were fighting among themselves and were paying no attention whatsoever to them.

000

Outside of their home, Hikaru and Daichi were ignoring each other as they waited for the results of the… er… vampire hunt. Not that the girl was too happy about it; rather, she was glaring at her older cousin.

"How could you let them do that!" she demanded indignantly, "If they hurt Daisuke in the process, I'm going to make you wish that you'd never been born--"

The older girl silenced her with a scathing look, "If you don't remember, Daichi, you were the one who mentioned that bloodsucker and now we have to do what'' right. Even if that does mean that Daisuke may be hurt in the process."

"But that didn't mean you had to rally the entire village after it!" Daichi protested, glaring back. "I can't believe you would just do that!"

"Think hard about it," snapped Hikaru, "Both you and your brother are Daemon Tamers; I think that's a good enough excuse to be a bit paranoid about you and this is the reason why."

Unable to understand what she was going on about, the red-haired girl gaped at her, "You… you…" she spluttered, "All this time… you and aunt and uncle… never… always…"

She was lost for words.

000

The spell that Satoshi cast was one that Daisuke had never seen before and the first thing that flew into his head was that they were all dead. But it was clear that the vampire must have thought it over, because his statement after that confirmed it:

"They're not dead. Merely… asleep."

The boy turned to face him, and was less than surprised that the other's face was still expressionless. "But then…"

"If you're wondering why I'm not sucking all their necks," Satoshi suppressed a cringe, "I'm not a blood-lusting maniac. And we need to go. Now." He grabbed the boy by the wrist and proceeded on dragging him out again, but Daisuke pulled free. Scrambling over to his desk, he dug out a Hessian bag and stuffed a few items into it. Watching, the blue-haired vampire raised a brow.

"With!" he called, and the rabbit popped out from under his bed, where it had moved when Daisuke had gotten distracted, "There you are! Come on, let's go then, ne?"

And he was talking to a rabbit.

It wasn't long before they were actually outside and the redhead couldn't help but what was going to happen next. His head was in a whirl at this point and the only thing that he could do now was follow and hope for the best.

He couldn't do much else anyway.

000

Honestly, all I can say is… yeah, whatever. When it first came, I was actually considering doing the whole bloody massacre vampire thing, but I couldn't do it if my life depended on it, so yeah. That's why it came out rather… unharmed. And you really have to question Daisuke's sanity…

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Well what do you know. Well, it's either her way of showing that she cares for her well-being… or she's making up for 13 years of being unable to bash something to a pulp. Your choice.

chrnoskitty (er… I mean kittenoftime):D Thanks! I'm working on it… still!

neko-nya: Rain is okay… if you're in a dry place. And what's the point of drying off if you end up wet anyway? Hm… I don't really hate HATE Risa… she's just very annoying… and in this, she doesn't care about Dark and obsess over him, so that's why.

Kyo's little koneko: Okay… right… they aren't around for too long, though. They just need to carry out one mission/task and then they leave. No other roles for them.


	10. Fragment Nine: Paths Cross for a Reason

Disclaimers: Do I seriously need this?

Warnings: Shoddy fighting scene that is blunt and not very… descriptive. Krad steals Dark's weapon for the fight, Dark acts like a statue… and Satoshi is hiding from the sun.

Other: Lessee… well, they walk, talk, argue… and the four finally meet. So whoopee.

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Nine: Paths Cross for a Reason

Traveling by day was definitely easier than it was night, Krad had come to admit. And with two experienced travelers to accompany them made it even easier; although she would never admit THAT. Dark seemed to get over the fact quickly that he was traveling with three girls at the same time, and keeping him in line had been quite easy; all he needed now and then was a stomp in the foot and he would behave himself.

He sulked at this, but didn't say anything because it was fairly obvious that the blonde was more used to this sort of situation/scenario than he was, and she was the girl around here. Maybe it was due to the fact that she was quite independent and self-assertive that made her that way, but in the end, that was about it. And she was quite violent when she wanted to be.

But then again… she was also quite nice when she wasn't angry or annoyed; in fact, as he already knew, she was pretty…

Shaking himself out of the stupor, he focused on the backs of Riku and Risa, who were walking just ahead of them and throwing them random tips about traveling and how to watch out in case of ambushing enemies and the like. They obviously knew what they were talking about, but it didn't make it any easier for the boy. He was used to running away more than actually standing around and fighting back… or whatever it was. It just wasn't his thing.

It was more something Krad would do.

Strange, but when he thought about it now, the blonde seemed to be able to take care of herself quite well and knew how to fight – which amazed him just slightly, but not that much – and while he himself wasn't that bad, he tended to avoid fighting at all costs. Maybe it had something to do with his pride and the fact that he would never admit being bested by anyone.

Avoiding the subject was so much easier.

Turning her head to face the two, Risa grinned, "So… how did you get here anyway and what's the reason?" It was clearly her way of starting some form of conversation, but at least it would kill the silence that had blanketed over them a few minutes back, where Riku had been advising them to avoid using strange looking plants as food or… yeah.

"The Gate," Krad replied bluntly, then elaborated when the brunette blinked questioningly, "It blew up after we got sent to… the middle of nowhere. Why, I have no idea. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Dark was in there as well…"

The purple haired teen glared at her, "I despise that!"

"Yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes, "And the fact that you can't even use that weapon makes it so much better, huh?"

Dark looked ready to argue some more, but Riku held up a hand with a sigh, "Do you two always argue like this?"

"Well… yeah," answered Dark, "Or at least ever since yesterday morning. I don't get this at all. I mean, it was Krad's birthday, I just went over to talk to her, our parents go crazy, some weird things happen, and earthquake occurs, and now we run away, the portal blows up, and now we're stuck with a sorceress and… what are you?"

Frowning at the fact that he had said all that in one breath, Riku sniffed, "If you really need to know, I'm a Wind Oracle. Now shut up and keep marching."

"How? You two are leading the way and you stopped first. We're only following," shot back the teen. The blonde next to him could only muffle her sigh of frustration and noticed that the short haired brunette looked ready to scream at him. It kind of reminded her of her mum when she was angry; amusing, to say the least, but the earsplitting shriek was quite unbearable.

Riku had opened her mouth to retort, yet seemed to regain her composure and then merely muttered a curse under her breath and then stalked off to catch up with her younger sister, who was smiling again.

Once the two were out of earshot, though, Krad decided that she had to settle it with Dark. His attitude with the entire situation was not only getting tedious and boring, but the fact that he thought that everything was going to be okay was incredibly irritating and she would end up strangling him to death if he didn't take it seriously soon.

Yanking him down by the ear, she caught the purple-haired teen completely by surprise and he nearly fell backwards. "What was that for!"

"You have to wonder sometimes, don't you?" she snapped back, not bothering to bait him or annoy him just for the sake of it; "Look, I don't care about this whole prophecy thing one bit, but if you don't straighten out your attitude then I'm going to head off my own way."

"Whoa, whoa… what?" Dark blinked at this and she frowned, "Are you saying that I'm treating this all as a joke then?"

"Of course you moron! Do you want to get us both killed out there!"

"I see… and come on, I'm like this all the time."

"I knew you were a jerk the first time I met you, but I was highly unaware that you were this big of a jerk."

"Why you--"

"Hey! What are you two doing!" called Risa some distance away as she waved to them. "We'll never get to the village in time at the rate we're going! Come on, stop fooling around!"

"Who's the fool?" Riku asked nonchalantly, the headband around her forehead whipping around the strong gust of wind that blew out at them from all sides. "They're still children."

"Actually, they're only two years younger than us." Corrected the long-haired brunette.

"Still, they act like children. Maybe it was lack of social contact."

"… You have a point."

Dark stared at the two in front in disbelief, "They're… talking about us like we're deaf or something."

A derisive snort was the only reply to that sentence, and Krad was about to catch up to the twins, but then stopped when she noticed something running towards them. Something big… had four paws… a mouth with many, many teeth… and… yeah, that was about it.

Of course, that was the last thing they needed, so the blonde ended up stealing Dark's sword before he could work out what was going on, and met the… monster as it charged; all the while ignoring the calls of Riku, Risa, and Dark making off-hand comments about one thing or another.

She gritted her teeth; didn't the purple haired fool **ever **shut up? Apparently not.

000

Supposing the fact that he was already a klutz who was capable of tripping over air, this had to be the stupidest idea that Daisuke had ever had in his entire life… or something. Of all the things possible, he was now following after some blue-haired, very intimidating, vampire who didn't seem to talk much, wore glasses, and didn't seem that intent of drinking one's blood, which made no sense whatsoever. Not to mention the little fact that he had run away from the only home he had, was separated from his loud – and annoying – twin, and was now going to fulfill some prophecy that made some sense, but his brain couldn't comprehend much else.

And then there was that little fact that he hadn't slept since… the day before? He couldn't remember anymore, especially since everything was moving just a BIT too fast for his brain and most things didn't make much sense in the first place, before the whole incident began.

It was already the next morning and the redhead was really beginning to flag, seeing as he wasn't used to staying up and running all night, and he was still questioning whatever sanity he had left. But then again, it might have all run away by now and if it had still been there, he wouldn't even be in this mess in the first place.

…

What mess was he in again? His mind was so stressed out that he couldn't even remember that.

Of course, this also meant that when Satoshi stopped walking, Daisuke promptly ran into him and they fell in an undignified heap. It wasn't a good thing from the start and the redhead groaned. Pushing himself up, he apologized while he tried to stifle a yawn. He failed miserably.

It was clear that he wasn't going to get much further without sleep, but how was he supposed to tell the vampire? Then again, did vampires EVER take a break? And how was he able to still walk around after a day and a night of being awake and not even resting ONCE?

Supposing the fact that Satoshi had been out like a light after Daichi got that spell wrong… but still!

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked when he noticed that the question had indeed been directed towards him. The blue-haired vampire just stared at him blankly, and the redhead couldn't help but sweat drop; what was with this guy? He was just so intimidating all the time… and the fact that there was never any sort of emotion on his face didn't help matters either…

And so it came back to question as to why he was even here in the first place. It was also quite obvious that he was never going to find that answer.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied hurriedly, when he finally worked out that he hadn't answered the question yet. Satoshi nodded lightly, the shadows hiding almost his whole face and form because of the sun coming up in… two hours, Daisuke calculated mentally. Then what was going to happen?

Strange images popped into his head at the thought of what might happen to vampires when exposed to the sun, but pushed them all away as the two continued to who knew where.

They had left the village and all, and all around them was grass, grass, plants, grass… and sky. Nothing of much interest, but it was quite odd to see no monsters wandering around. They really should have been coming around in droves, yet… it was so empty.

With seemed to notice this as well, and was hitting the top of Daisuke's head, which he was riding on top of, and the boy could only nod lightly in reply. Besides, what could he do about it?

The world below, with mortals and the like, was definitely something that Satoshi never truly believe would happen in his lifetime. Damn prophecies ruined his life forever, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed at that little twist of fate that would now shove him with three other mortals… or whatever the other two were; he didn't know, nor did he care too much.

Not to mention the fact that it was getting closer to day, and he HATED light in all its forms. True, as long as he had the cloak and hood on, he would be pretty much protected, but it didn't help much.

The only other thing worse than this would have to be that stupid castle/cave he had once called home.

At this point, he was planning to get to the next town, where he would hopefully run into that stupid seer that his mother had told him about, and confronting them about it seemed to be the smartest plan of action. Then he could work out what to do – most likely abandon the mortal – and then go… somewhere.

Maybe that was the biggest problem with the situation; he had nowhere to go to afterwards, and the fact that everyone hated mortals didn't exactly help anyone either.

He hated the uncertainty of it all.

Turning his head, Satoshi slowly analysed the mortal behind him, who looked tired and was trying hard not to yawn. Not that it worked, but he was trying either way. Such a strange mortal in the end…

He probably had a sort of mental illness, to trust and STILL follow a vampire around, but since he had explained the nature of the prophecy, he had probably thought it over and then agreed with it… until they got some answers that would and could help.

So that was it; the two were wandering around in the open plains, it was nearly morning, and they were completely vulnerable to attack by any monsters that may be around.

Did he care? Not… in particular… right?

Frowning and turning back to the nothing in front of him, Satoshi had to wonder if the boy behind him was actually capable to taking care of himself in case of attack. Because if he couldn't it could cause a lot of problems for him and he wasn't sure if he was really into being a guard to a mortal.

But then again, the boy HAD helped him… and still trusted him, even now…

The vampire bit his lip as confusion hit his brain like a ton of bricks, and that wasn't a pleasant sensation in the first place.

Why was he asking himself so many questions now? And what did he care if the mortal got hurt? Strange red-headed kid… but he had the kind of personality that people liked from the start, and as much as he hated to admit it…

Satoshi stopped himself in time and tried to get rid of the thought.

He did not get along with the mortal… he just couldn't… he wouldn't… he wouldn't…

… It was kind of painful as well as confusing. Why did his brain and feelings hate him so much?

He stopped thinking that way when he saw two things that caught his interest; one was the outline of the next village, and then the other was some monster or another that was running towards them.

Oh, then there were some other shadows some distance away that were currently battling with some more monsters. Joy, this was going to be fun. Then there was the little fact that if he got his cloak damaged… well, he was going to be doomed, wasn't he?

And why the hell was he talking to himself again? Ah, the problems with living in a large family where siblings don't agree with one another.

Daisuke noticed the monsters as well – and the other shadows fighting… somewhere, naturally – and was now searching for something in his bag. Satoshi raised a questioning eyebrow at his actions.

The redhead smiled disarmingly; "Monster attacks are actually quite frequent in the last village, so I was wondering where they'd gone off to." He pulled out a dagger and sheath, frowned at it, and then shrugged, "Guess I'll just have to buy some proper weapons when we get into town."

This successfully got the vampire even more confused and he shrugged; he could always ask questions later, right?

000

The first monster actually slammed INTO the blade, killing it instantly, and even Dark shut up in disbelief at what he had just witnessed. It was also stupid when one thought of it, but there wasn't much time to really process the information, because more monsters were coming. For one reason or another, no one honestly cared.

But due to the fact that there were more monsters running towards them – completely ruining the calm atmosphere – it wasn't like they had much time to think about anything else anyway.

"Why do they always charge at us at the worst time possible?" Riku muttered, directing the question to either herself or Risa; no one knew. She dug out a card from her pocket and looked it over. It was a piece of cardboard cut out and had nothing on it, and she scowled.

Risa merely placed her hands on her hips and watched as Krad pretty much did all the fighting, which Dark looked like some sort of petrified statue. "Well, it looks like we won't have to teach Krad much then, huh, sis?"

"I don't know about that, but I think she'll get overwhelmed when even more monsters come," came the muttered reply as she poked the brunette with the cardboard. "Now cast a spell or something. I am not going to have their deaths on my wishlist."

"Eeeh? Who ever said we were going to let them die?" Risa frowned at her sister and was poked again, "Quit it!"

Refusing to listen to her twin, Riku poked her again; harder, "Then get casting!"

Pouting, Risa complied, "You didn't have to poke me so hard, you know."

Smiling innocently, the short-haired brunette poked her one more time, "I can do whatever I want. So start doing something useful before one of them gets hurt."

Of course, Dark was still staring and acting like a statue, while Krad was actually doing all the work, which was not only unfair for her, but… whatever.

There were two monsters trying to attack, but kept jumping in each other's way and the like, and it wasn't like they were any good at organizing or actually using a strategy, so it made it easier for the blonde.

It also gave her time to snap at Dark, who STILL wasn't doing anything of use. And that was really putting her off for some reason; then again, she had his weapon…

She couldn't care less.

"Can't you do SOMETHING, you idiot!" she yelled before dodging another attack, "Standing there isn't going to make much of a difference, you know! Get your ass moving!"

This managed to snap the teen out of his… staring/daze/nothingness… somehow, "What are you talking about? You stole my only weapon, you know!"

"Uh, maybe it's because you weren't doing anything and you can't even use it? DUH!" she snapped back impatiently, but then stopped when the monster went up in flames and began to shriek and run around in circles. "… Nice."

As it was still running around in circles, it was then hit by another spell of sorts, but no one really had the time to process it all because the other monster was charging at them again.

… and then it was knocked out of the way by a white bunny-looking thing.

Everyone sweat dropped.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Kyu!"

"With! You're not supposed to do that!" shrilled an annoyed-yet-desperate voice as a boy with flaming red hair charged in their direction, followed by some dude wearing a cloak. For some reason, he managed to ram right into Dark and the two fell over; the cloaked figure stopped and didn't do anything, the twins just stared in disbelief, the rabbit was having the time of its life, the monster was also still or completely winded and Krad…

Krad felt like the world had finally gone insane.

The world was obviously not going at a sane speed and that all the scenarios and other worldly problems were just being thrown at them for the fun of it, and that seemed to annoy her more than anything. Not to mention she wanted to cause Dark some more harm for not even trying to help her during the fight… but that could wait for a bit; they were getting close to the village anyway.

The rabbit was still bouncing around happily and the monster just rumbled something and trundled off, which was quite a surprise, and, slowly, the redhead sat up.

"Ow…" he muttered, "Sorry about that… really am…"

He looked younger than them and something about that hair seemed far too unnatural… but then again, was purple hair any more natural? Hn… she'd have to ask Dark on that one… his clothes pretty much placed him in a lower social status, but that didn't matter, and he didn't seem to care much because he was now crawling over to berate the bouncing… rabbit. She wasn't even sure if it was that.

Focusing her attention on the cloaked figure led to no conclusion of any sort and that just bugged her.

Then someone tugging on her cloak brought her back to annoying reality. She looked down, "What?"

"Can I have my sword back now?" asked Dark, who hadn't bothered to sit up yet.

She smirked, "What if I didn't want to? It's not like you used it."

"Why you--!"

"Looks like we're all here then."

This caught everyone present off-guard – except the twins, who were now focusing on the newcomer – and turned to see someone watching them some distance away.

Towa smiled slightly at this, "So my prophecy really is coming true now."

The four merely stared at her blankly and said nothing to get the conversation going and then turned to blink at each other. Riku and Risa smiled in a disarming matter and didn't say anything either. It was obvious that the conversation that the seer had started wasn't going anywhere, and Towa sighed; it was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

000

Uh… stuff? I can't think straight… so sleepy… for some reason…

Anyway, Towa confuses them all in the next chapter and the four get along… or don't get along. Either way. And who knows, maybe something more interesting will happen… highly doubt it though. It's all downhill from here.

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Yeah, I was trying to even it out so they all get mentioned enough times. But now that they're all together… well, who knows.

neko-nya: Yeah, Risa isn't as bad as one might think… when she's not fawning over Dark and stalking him… it's just… irritating. As a vampire, would it be like the Wizard of Oz? o.O I mean, would he sizzle and die in the sun, you think?

chronoskitty/kittenoftime: Eheh… thanks! XD

ginny brenn: Hi again. XD I'm glad you like it and all so… yeah. :D Hope you hang around for the rest of the story! As for me being good at this… er… really? o.O Thanks for the reviews!

kyo's little koneko: Daisuke might be a bit too… trusting, really. Maybe I should just put that as part of the problem later…


	11. Fragment Ten: One Simple Task

Disclaimers: Still don't own, despite everything I say.

Warnings: Dark gets kicked in the shin a lot, a really, really cheap explanation on what has to be done to rid of evil prophecy and… more arguing and the fact that there's only one thing they have to do…

Other: Er… they finally meet… is that enough for an explanation?

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Ten: One Simple Task

It wasn't long before the four would-be-prophesized-travelers were all crammed into a small room in the village inn and not in the best of moods. In truth, Krad was just put off at the fact that there was no room for leg space, and merely ended up entertaining herself by randomly kicking Dark whenever she felt like it. This also meant that the other teen would wince at odd intervals and then send her a glare that was ignored. The redheaded kid blinked in confusion every time that happened while his pet… bunny – she still didn't know what it was – would bounce happily on his head. And the guy in the hood and cloak hadn't removed it and was standing in the corner, ignoring the chaos. Maybe he was an assassin or something, and that was why… she pushed the stupid, stupid thought out of her head; it wasn't her fault that there were people who were jealous of her for some reason. She didn't even know them. Unless they were those people a few weeks back who'd tried to propose marriage on her and she ended up hurting them really badly…

She pushed the thoughts out of her head.

As it was, she didn't know why she allowed herself to be dragged along with them and the fact that the lady – Towa – seemed to know them. Kind of. Not to mention the fact that somewhere in the back of the blonde's mind told her that they had met once, and only once.

So why were they here again?

They hadn't even made basic introductions, and Riku and Risa had just followed without saying a thing, and Dark was as stupid as always, meaning absolutely nothing to help at all. The redhead just looked confused and… yeah, the guy in hood hadn't said a thing at all.

000

Dark stifled a yawn and winced when he felt the jab of Krad's boot hit him hard in the shin for the tenth time in the row that very afternoon. Or day. he hadn't been keeping track and was still indignant of the fact that the blonde had been the one doing all the fighting. As much as he hated to admit it, SHE knew what she was doing with that weapon, and he'd only ever used it for decoration, which was a pretty bad excuse in itself. Supposingly, the only reason he had it was due to the fact that his parents had wanted him to learn how to wield a sword, but he never got around to actually being taught it, so that was why he didn't have a clue on how to use it effectively.

Glaring at his old childhood friend – who simply ignored it – he went back to thinking about the nothing in the depths of his mind. He wasn't worried about what was going to happen because – as luck would have it – he always ended up on the good side of things. True, he couldn't fight (YET) but he was willing to learn; if not just to spite Krad. And although all that had happened hadn't been the best of things, it was better then being chased by his nurse, or being bugged by the adults who kept telling him that he needed to a fiancé sooner or later. But he wasn't even old enough for that. Stupid parents, thinking they could control his life…

By this time, he could deal with anything else thrown at them. As long as it didn't involve crazy girls and stupid people trying to rule his life, it was all fine with him. And what was with the creepy dude in the cloak anyway? He didn't seem… human at all. The redhead next to him was just staring out the window and waiting for something to happen, but he didn't look like trouble at all. How did he get dragged into it then? He didn't seem the sort to want to get involved with pain or anything.

Hm… strange…

000

So first he was following a vampire who didn't have the same need to consume blood as much as normal vampires, and now he was in the middle of the inn with people that he had never met before. Not to mention the fact that With kept on jumping on his head and killing all his brain cells.

Daisuke sighed and watched as the purple-haired teen next to him winced visibly. Why he was doing that, he really couldn't put his finger on, so all he could adopt was a confused expression, which was now plastered firmly on his face. It wasn't like he could do much else than that and the blonde across was just ignoring all of them.

The two older brunettes were sitting by the window, and were obviously sisters – twins no less – and were just waiting for the silver-haired woman to say something. Thing was, he hadn't said a thing yet and was just staring over in their direction and shaking her head. Why? He couldn't work it out properly.

Being a small room wasn't helping matters at all, but who was he supposed to complain to? He didn't care less, but something about the woman who had greeted them a few minutes earlier was just so… so…

Damn his vocabulary shortage.

Not to mention that he needed to buy himself a proper weapon; a ceremonial knife needed for summoning wasn't going to help much at this point.

And he was bound to get yelled at for the rest of his life by Daichi when he ever saw her again. That was something he didn't want to witness at all. Bad, bad thoughts…

000

By the looks on the other three people's faces, they had no clue on what was going on at all. Satoshi had suspected as much, but he wasn't about to try and explain it to two other people that were giving him a look that screamed 'who is that freak!'. He wasn't about to answer that question. Already he suspected that they didn't trust him at all, but what else did he suspect?

Not to mention that got him questioning on Daisuke's trust in him. If it was that. If the mental vibes seemed to speak truthfully, the redhead didn't fear him at all, nor did he suspect him or… or anything. It was trust usually bound between two best friends, so why…

It was so confusing for him; a vampire who didn't even get along with his brothers or sisters. Not that they were the nicest of people in the first place, but even so…

Grinding his teeth, he wondered when he could actually walk around without the hood over his head, but it seemed better that way, seeing that the blonde was glaring constantly in his direction, while the purple-haired boy was wincing at odd intervals. Seeing that he was being kicked under the table, it made quite a bit of sense.

But now that they were all together now, what was going to happen? If the prophecy was true, they now had to do something that only they could do. Whatever it was.

000

It was annoying, Towa had to admit, that, by the reaction she had received, that no one honestly had a clue on what was going on. Well, she had predicted as much, but it was still annoying for her. At least Riku and Risa had managed to find the other two, and the vampire knew what he had been doing… but the redhead was obviously trying to make more sense of the situation, the blonde didn't trust them, and the purple-haired guy was staring at nothingness.

Well, it was time to break the ice and get right to the news that they needed to know. And she really needed to get back to moving around; she had a lot of villages to visit.

"Well, let me introduce myself," bowing slightly, the seer noticed that all their attention was now focused on her, "I am Towa Shirube, and I'm a seer. You see, destiny was what brought you four here, and now is the time to explain the quest which you must accomplish."

"That's nice and all, but why did we have to get involved?" asked Dark, "Seeing as me and Krad were just getting away from the adults…"

"Just as fate degreed it as."

The blonde kicked him and then faced her, frown firmly in place, "So you're saying that we're the ones in the prophecy?"

"Of course. For certain," Towa nodded her head and then allowed herself the time to scan the room and to focus on each person. Mainly the three boys, and the blonde, who was still frowning. "Why else would you be where you are now. In particular, Satoshi." She pointed a finger at the cloaked figure, who said and did nothing, as if he hadn't heard a thing at all.

Daisuke looked up, the confusion stamped on his face, "But… it was Daichi…" he explained, almost apologetically, "She just ended up screwing another summoning… so that was all…"

"Oh, you're wrong there," winking, she grinned lightly and then tapped a finger over the wooden surface of the table, "As I said, fate works in mysterious ways. One way or another, it was destiny that brought a vampire to this part of the world, and the fact that both the Sun and Moon children are here pretty much proves it."

Riku smirked slightly and crossed her arms, "As it was, it's not everyday you get a mortal, children from two opposite kingdoms and a vampire to become a traveling group."

"Huh?" Krad blinked, the frown changing to perplexity as the words processed into her head. "Wait… are you saying that we have to work together with others that we have never met before and we're supposed to get along!" and the unsaid sentence of, 'I'm the only girl in the group!' hung around the room.

"She has a point," agreed Daisuke, "We don't even know each other or anything… and my aunt and uncle are going to kill me…" He gave a surprised squawk as Dark jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. "What was that for?"

"I don't see the problem with travelling with you," the older teen replied, "You seem nice enough… although that rabbit thing is… kinda weird…"

The redhead could only stare at him, unable to work out what he meant by that, and then Krad sighed and explained. "I'm assuming that he's glad that he's finally found a friend that won't kick him around like a soccer ball."

"Damn straight!"

Daisuke sweat dropped.

"Now, as I was saying," coughed Towa, noticing that the conversation had ventured off in another direction that made no sense whatsoever, "I made a prophecy of trouble that is now approaching, as you may have noticed by now, and your four must travel now and accomplish the task."

Raising a hand like a student in class, Dark had only one thing to point out before Krad kicked him again, "Then you'll need to tell us the task."

Trying hard to keep her temper in check and not to take a leaf out of the blonde's book, the seer said as calmly as she could, "The Stars."

By the reaction she got from the redhead, it seemed that he knew what was going on, and the vampire obviously had been told about it by his parents, but the other two remained blank. Damn the adults that thought that such a case would never come to be.

"You see, in this land, and connecting lands, there's always an object that pulses with both life and death and holds the lines of destiny in place," she explained, "Elements, balance, shadowed worlds and the like all have that in common. In this world and the two kingdoms of light and dark-" she pointed gazed at Dark and Krad, "-rely on the stars as the link between pure chaos and just plain trouble."

"So the stars are an important part of all this," muttered the blonde, taking it in. "And what are we supposed to do then?"

"Well, it's simple, really. Thirteen has always been considered an unlucky number, but this time it might actually save… us from being overrun by monsters, I guess." Towa frowned, "As I was saying, collecting all thirteen fragments of the sacred Star will pretty much put the balance back in place and you can live like nothing has ever happened."

Inclining his head, Dark could only mutter, "So now we have to run around the place, facing monsters and the like, while searching for thirteen pieces of… whatever they are. How are we supposed to know what they look like?"

"Oh, you'll know when you see it. Besides, it's not like any of you had any plans anyway."

"But thirteen!" stressed the purple-haired teen.

"Actually…" Towa suddenly smiled and pointed at all four of them, "You only need to find one fragment!" By the blank looks on their faces, they were – once again – lost in her logic, "Simple really. There are four of you and, you may not know it, but you each already hold four separate fragments. As it is, THAT'S why you're stuck in this, so get unstuck and find that fragment!"

Without further ado, she kicked them out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Daisuke groaned as he picked himself up and stared at the solid wooden door. "That… was strange…"

"And you're telling me that…" grumbled Dark, "Well, we might as well go… somewhere and properly introduce ourselves, right?"

Krad rolled her eyes and dragged him away from the other two before hissing into his ear, "Do you really believe a thing she said? And who says that we can trust them in the first place anyway?"

"Well, it's not like we HAD any plans in mind anyway," shot back the other teen, "And they seem harmless enough. And besides, the redhead probably knows where he's going, so that would be really helpful."

"How about the guy in the cloak," she asked.

"He's creepy. Creepy, I say…"

"Who's creepy?" as a dangerously low voice behind Dark. With a yelp, he whirled around and saw that it was the said guy in cloak, still hooded, but by the sound of his voice, he wasn't too happy with the arrangements.

"You are!" Dark snapped.

"Dark…" growled Krad warningly.

"We really shouldn't be standing here," the redhead piped up, "And I need to go to the store anyway. Come on!" He bounced down the corridor with renewed energy and, after shooting bewildered glances, Krad and Dark followed after him. And the hooded guy trailed behind them.

000

"So you two are from the Sun and Moon Kingdoms?" questioned Daisuke as he inspected a variety of daggers on display. Despite the fact that he never honestly fought or wandered around, his last teacher in the summoning business had always told him to be prepared in case of trouble. And the times when he and his twin had found more trouble than they were worth, the words of advice were priceless.

"Well… yeah…" replied the boy, standing to one side and trying not to stand out. "I suppose… what about it?"

"Wow, I never thought I would see the day when Dark would actually be nervous enough NOT to talk," joked the blonde girl next to him. There was a muttered reply at this, but she ignored it, "I'm Krad and he's Dark, so… what's your name?"

"Daisuke Niwa," he replied, bending down to look at another arrangement of weapons. "I'm a Daemon Tamer. And he's Satoshi Hiwatari," he added thoughtfully, well aware of the fact that Satoshi would not introduce himself. And, of course, the vampire didn't say anything.

Maybe it had something to do whether it was day or night… or something. The redhead never did do a study on vampires, but they were pretty much like humans; besides the fact that they drank blood… couldn't stand the light… and were able to turn into bats… but other than that, they were very similar to the human race.

"So why doesn't he talk?" demanded Dark irritably, "I mean, he only said two words during that hour or so in that stupidly stuffy room! Not to mention I've got bruises on my legs…" he added huffily as he shot the blonde another glare, that was ignored.

"Does he even speak to you?" asked Krad.

"Well… yeah… kind of…" admitted the redhead, "But we only met yesterday…"

"And that was my birthday…" the blonde muttered to her friend.

"What! Oh yeah!" Dark slapped his forehead, "Does that mean that it was your fault that you were born that day?"

There was a loud crash as Dark was kicked out of the weapon shop. Daisuke sweat dropped slightly as he paid for a bow and arrow set and then followed the storming girl out, only to have Satoshi tap him on the shoulder and he turned.

"Hiwatari-kun?"

"Do we really have to travel with those two?" Satoshi muttered as he watched the blonde strangling the purple-haired teen, "I was prepared, but something tells me this wasn't supposed to happen."

"They're royalty though, aren't they? Maybe that's why…"

"I don't even know why I'm here anymore…"

The redhead smiled at this and then stepped forward to try and stop Krad from killing Dark; which she was doing quite successfully. "Eeh… Krad-san… maybe you should stop before he chokes to death…?" he tried hesitantly.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, you know," she replied coolly, one arm around his throat as he gagged, "What a jerk… and he has the nerve to blame it on me being born then…"

"… Stupid… violent…" spluttered Dark as his face began to turn as purple as his hair, "Bloody hell… if you weren't a girl…"

She strangled him for just that little longer.

000

Daisuke shook his head slowly, bewildered. Just ten minutes ago the two older teens had been at each other's throats (well, Krad had been close to killing Dark…) but as they left the village behind them, they were getting along just fine like nothing had happened. Dark had ended up giving Krad his sword and had opted for some close range knives instead, and the peaceful air was almost too good to be true.

Not to mention the fact that Dark seemed to get along with Daisuke just as well in the few hours they had met and they got along fine… although maybe it had something to do with the fact that the redhead had given in and promised to teach the older teen on how to actually defend himself. With that, Krad managed to put in another sarcastic comment, which led to more bickering… and then Satoshi actually said something, which then had Dark arguing with him…

"Does he always like to argue that much?" Daisuke asked Krad, who rolled her eyes and ignored the two behind them.

"Well, Dark probably doesn't get to argue much with anyone, seeing as he's an only child and all, so I guess," she shrugged and rearranged her cloak, "I mean, since we were kids, we were constantly supervised by servants and stuff, and I just couldn't take it. But the fact that we're now going to somewhere we don't even know… I just have to guess what will happen next."

"I've got a vague idea…"

"Well, you're just a jerk who can't even show his freaking face around the place--" ranted Dark, sticking out his tongue.

"Moron! I think by now you might have worked out that I CAN'T!" snapped Satoshi.

"Cause you're ugly!"

"No, I'm a VAMPIRE!"

"What's that got to do with it!"

"Wait, if he's a vampire, why isn't he trying to kill us?" asked Krad, blinking as the argument slowly got louder by the decibel. "And what's your idea?"

"Well, Hiwatari-kun isn't like most vampires, apparently," the redhead explained, "so I'm not really sure myself. And as for the idea… if what Towa-san said was true, then I'm assuming that it would have to be somewhere sacred. The problem with that theory is that there are quite a few temples as such that we could visit. And I have no idea on how we're supposed to locate this fragment… so… er…" he then noticed he was babbling and blushed, "Sorry… I think I said too much…"

Krad grinned, "No, not really. And it makes sense." She inclined her head and suppressed a sigh when she noticed that he childhood friend was still arguing with the vampire, "I suppose those two won't want to hear the theory anytime soon. So why don't you tell me about this place. I mean, this would have to be the only time I've ever left home."

"Really, it must be tough."

"Not for an only child with a friend with a brain the size of a kumquat. He never was the type to stay around and fight."

"Aah… my sister's like that… although she's constantly messing up summonings… which means I always have to be there to keep an eye out for her…"

Bouncing from one subject to another, it wasn't long before Dark finally got sick of arguing with Satoshi – for the time being – and ran ahead to catch up with the other two. "What'cha talking about!"

The blonde raised an eyebrow, "What's it to you?"

"Krad…"

Smiling, Daisuke could only comment to Satoshi – who had caught up - as the blonde and the purple-haired teen began to argue, "Towa-san said that we could save this place from chaos… but at the rate we're going, we might as well be trying to save ourselves.

"I think our one simple task is a lot broader than we thought."

The vampire was in silent agreement. That, or he was plotting a way to hurt Dark badly; either way.

And so forwards the newly formed group marched… yelling insults and threats to each other and the like.

000

Wow. And that's another chapter done. I don't think there'll be many chapters after this one, but you never know. Ah well, that's the way life is blah blah blah. And they're all happy cause now they have to wander around the world… kinda like Tales of Phantasia or something, you know?

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Well, I'm trying to update this as often as possible every week… even if it is only a chapter… and yeah. Thanks for the comment.

kyo's little koneko: Eheh… they all kinda get along and the like, but you know… a vampire and the like… what more could one expect? As for getting hurt, probably not too badly and all… maybe.

neko-nya: yah, Satoshi's very special cause he's… er… the Chosen One of Four! Yeah… Krad's both strong and pretty… and independent and… uh… not useless… Dark's a prince who was just too lazy to learn anything… I suppose.

Chrnoskitty/kittenoftime: Thanks!

Devinedragon: Well, I'm currently trying to update once every week, so yeah. Satoshi makes a pretty good vampire though… low blood pressure and the like, so why not? Thanks for the comment!


	12. Fragment Eleven: A Week Later

Disclaimers: Still don't own, despite everything I say.

Warnings: Running around in a pyramid, Dark poking mummies in tombs for no reason… more arguing, fighting, insults and… er… yeah, no progress makes them annoyed to the point of… er… insanity?

Other: A week later and they have gotten… nowhere… well, they've been traveling and fighting and arguing… but that's about it. And for some reason, they're in a pyramid-like-place… don't know why though…

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Eleven: A Week Later…

"No, you idiot," snapped Krad, "That's a mummified person. Now would you PLEASE stop disturbing the tombs like that!"

Dark, being Dark, didn't hear her; or he was ignoring her, and continued to poke at the coffin-something or other without a care in the world. That was until Satoshi hit him over the head, that was.

Spluttering, and rubbing his now sore head, the purple-haired teen glared at the vampire, who stared blankly back. "That was uncalled for, you creepy, creepy bastard!"

"…"

"Why don't you say something to me, huh!"

Shaking his head and examining the carving on the walls of the tomb, Daisuke could only sigh in resignation as Dark began another argument with the vampire. On the whole, it managed to get rid of having the trip as a bore and a half, but it also managed to get on everyone nerves quite a bit. Except for Dark himself, who seemed to enjoy the fact that he managed to find someone he could argue with without getting hurt too much. Of course, since Krad was still around, when she got annoyed, she was VERY annoyed, which was the only threat effective enough to get him to shut up.

"Who do you think is going to kill the other first?" the redhead asked casually as the blonde joined him to look at the weird scratches and signs in front of them.

"Dark is too stupid to be actually able to kill someone," she replied coolly, "So I'd have to place it with the vampire."

"Hiwatari-kun," he corrected her.

"Yeah. That one."

The two ignored the one-sided argument that was being held behind them, although there was a good chance that they would be in very big trouble for all the disturbing noise, but it wasn't their fault. Dark merely had a really, really big mouth. What were they supposed to do about that anyway?

"Found anything yet?" Satoshi asked the other two, not even giving Dark a glance to show that he knew that he was being yelled at.

Krad shrugged lightly and crouched to look at the scratches closer to the ground, "Most of this just looks like the history it was built in. Daisuke, found anything?"

"Curses? The usual stuff you'd find in a tomb with mummies," was the simple reply they got. "I guess we won't be able to find it here. We should leave before some spirit comes after us."

The vampire raised an eyebrow, "With that moron's voice bouncing along the corridors like a foghorn, I'm surprised that they haven't come just yet. Give us five seconds and we'll have them running to save their ears."

"Oh shut up!"

The blonde smirked as Daisuke laughed before getting serious again. "Hiwatari-kun's got a point, though. We should leave if we can't find anything here. There's no point."

"And don't touch anything," Krad reminded the purple-haired teen sharply. "You know how dangerous it can be. Remember the last temple we visited…?"

Dark scowled but listened to her. Grumbling under his breath, the two older teens followed the younger two, not saying much since there was nothing to talk about, and so it led to more silence than necessary.

Not that they seemed to care about it that much. Nothing had happened, they hadn't found anything at all, now what were they supposed to do?

Of course, the peace – no matter how awkward it was – couldn't last, and it was proven quite clearly when something semi-transparent something or other popped up in front of them.

Raising one eyebrow, Dark shook his head, "What are these exactly? And don't tell me we have to fight them either…" He got hit over the head by Krad, who was grinning at his whining tone of voice.

"I suppose you disturbed the spirits just too much, you know," she informed him coolly, not the least bit worried of the little fact that they were now surrounded in a small hallway that had many carvings etched in them. "Would you like to take the frontal charge then? Or will it be the vanguard?" She got a confused, blank look at this and she rolled her eyes, "We're surrounded, you idiot. One way or another, we'll have to fight them."

"But they look like ghosts!"

"Spirits, duh."

"Don't pretend to be all high and mighty with me!"

"Who said I was?"

"Argh!"

Satoshi plugged his ears and looked up at the ceiling, wishing that it would collapse on the two bickering teens, "They sound like a stupid couple who can't agree on where to go."

Poking With, who had been sitting on his head, Daisuke could only shrug off-hand as he watched the floating, shapeless beings, waiting to see if they would make the first move. They just seemed to float there, not making any sort of sound, almost like they weren't actually there; which could make the matter more confusing. He just couldn't place where he might have seen them before. Or heard them, he just couldn't remember.

"They just might be an illusion," he muttered to himself, "With? Can you tell me anything on the matter?"

"Kyu! Kyu kyu kyu!" was the obvious reply.

The redhead blinked, "Okay…"

Whether he actually understood the bunny-demon, one could question, but it didn't matter in the end, did it? With had been with the Niwa family since whenever, and that was enough to say that this danger couldn't be anymore dangerous than the actual tomb collapsing on top of them.

"Can't you find a way to shut them up?" Satoshi half-groaned as he edged closer to the smaller boy, in an attempt to get away from Krad and Dark; who were STILL arguing, despite the situation.

"Well, we could always just abandon them, but that wouldn't be going with the prophecy, right?"

"… Suppose not. What are they?"

"I think they're half-beings, or something close to that assumption. I mean, they're hovering between both worldly planes at the moment. I suggest we run before they manage to get to this world and try to attack."

"Hn."

It was actually a lot easier than they would have thought; dragging the two older teen with them as they bolted down the hallways as they tried to get out of there.

But as fate would have it, they managed to get lost.

This time, Krad was the first to brook a complaint as she sat on the cold ground and pouted, "Lost. Do you know that we may never be found in here? I was definitely NOT planning to die young, you know!"

"Wow," Dark commented, "This is the first time I've actually seen Krad so… feminine…"

She didn't waste time to knee him in the stomach, "What was that!"

They were in a small-ish room, with only the one hallway place from which they came from; and where the spirits were now wandering around. So that was obviously out of the picture. Unlike the other walls, there were no carvings at all, and a shaft of moonlight was all that indicated that it was still sometime late at night.

Satoshi looked up at the gaping hole high above their heads, "Five hours 'til dawn." He muttered, more to himself than others.

Turning to face the vampire, Dark stared at him with what little light there was, attempting to read the expression on his face; "Out of curiosity, if you walk around in the sunlight, do you melt or something?"

A half-growl was the only reply he received before Satoshi tried to leap at him, only to have Daisuke pull him back. And although the vampire was strong enough to break away from the boy's grip, he didn't.

Of course, Dark was hit over the head with Krad's sheath.

"We have to think of a way to get out of here," Daisuke said, trying to remain calm in case someone else tried to tear the throat out of another, "By the sounds of that-" he indicated the new sounds of walls being broken down and smashed to oblivion, "-we now have to deal with an army of monsters and the place has a pretty good chance of collapsing during that."

Thinking it over, Krad nodded, frowning, "And the biggest problem is that we're lost. I knew we should have done something to keep a trail. Anyway, are these spirit things connected to that whole mummy curse or something?"

"I'm assuming so," he shrugged lightly, "but I can't really say. Maybe someone on the other side thought it would be fun to send them here."

"Or they want us out of the way," added Dark, rubbing his head at the same time. "Now this is the time I wish we could just sprout wings and fly away." He choked when Krad first hit him really hard and then hugged him around the neck.

"You moron! That's the answer! I can't believe I forgot all about it!" she half-yelled; being one not to squeal. "We'll just fly out of this monster-spirit-ridden place!"

"Er… did I miss something?" Dark managed to squeeze out before he ran out of air yet again.

"We can fly! What the hell do you think we have wings for!"

"Oh… yeah…"

"Argh!"

As she proceeded in choking her friend so that his face was becoming a deep purple shade and Daisuke blinked, completely and utterly lost while Satoshi kept an eye out in case monsters decided to walk down the hallway/corridor. Eventually, the redhead thought it better to actually ask something rather than them just sitting there; it wasn't like they were doing anything useful anyway.

"So what did you mean by flying?" he said casually, looking up at the chimney-like opening, "I mean, I suppose Hiwatari-kun could if he wanted to… but the rest of us…" He didn't need to finish the sentence, so he allowed it to hang.

"Well," began Krad, one arm around Dark's neck to keep him in a headlock, "Due to the fact that we're not HUMANS, exactly, makes it more understandable. Dark here and I have wings – meaning we can fly. Simple, no?"

Daisuke inclined his head, "Like angels?"

"Yeah, something of that sort, but that's not the point. It's a branch of magic that only the 'royal' blood seems to possess, but I'm sure we can carry you," the blonde shrugged lightly and looked up, "I think it's wide enough to let us fly freely. Keep your fingers crossed."

Satoshi joined them, wiping his glasses from unseen specks of dust, "I suggest we move now."

"Why?"

"I have a strong suspicion that we'll be having company soon."

"Oh."

It was then that Krad noticed that someone was tapping on her arm and she looked down, only to see Dark, "What?"

"…"

Bending down, it didn't take long for Daisuke to tell her what was wrong, "I really think you should let go; it looks like he's going to suffocate and die on us soon."

The blonde smirked evilly at this, "Is that true? Well, maybe I'll wait until he dies first and then we'll escape and allow the monsters this carcass."

"Krad-san…"

"I'm joking, I'm joking," with that, she let go and the purple-haired boy staggered away from her, rubbing his neck and glaring. She ignored it – as always – and flexed her arms, as if getting ready for something (like swimming, or running… yeah, that stuff) and it didn't take long for white wings to materialize practically out of nowhere in her back.

She flapped them experimentally and nodded.

"So how many people do we have to carry?" she asked cheerfully, "Because if Hiwatari wants to fly up by himself, then Dark can take Daisuke."

Satoshi shrugged at this, which meant that he agreed with what she said, and Daisuke nodded, peering over his shoulder. Dark was still scowling, but didn't argue.

Krad couldn't help but offer a smirk; being the only girl in the team did have their advantages, didn't they?

000

Ten minutes later found the group outside of the giant pyramid look-alike and all in one piece; which was the priority of the search. What they didn't want to meet, though, was a band of the monsters patrolling outside, so that meant that they had had to fight through that.

And that was how the redhead spent the rest of his night as he scolded Dark for rushing into stupid fights as he bandaged the older teen's bloody arm.

It had been a week since they had accidentally run into each other that one not-so-sunny-morning-because-it-was-dawn day and since the seer Towa had thrown them out of the room, telling them to find some part of a Star that was supposed to exist. The problem with that was that they had no idea on where to go, who to ask, and even if they actually got along.

As it turned out, Dark got along with Daisuke, yet hated Satoshi's guts for no reason; Daisuke found himself in the middle of a three-way fight yet got along fine with everyone; Satoshi never said anything unless necessary; and Krad seemed to get along with the redhead well enough and didn't care about the vampire to any degree that Dark had.

So they all went along the same way yet different ways mentally, and they were fine with that, although Daisuke was the one who had to work out their next traveling plan as to where to go. Being the only one to know his geography – of sorts – they had gone from one place to another; yet had no luck in finding what they wanted.

Not that they actually knew what they were looking for, so that wasn't any help to them at all.

And so began the arguing and fighting from day one…

_Bouncing on ahead, Daisuke held a one-sided conversation with both Satoshi and With, as they were the ones ahead. Naturally, the vampire had his hood over his head and didn't react at his name or anything close to it, but the redhead didn't seem to care the least._

_Dark and Krad trailed behind, bewildered._

"_So… why are we walking in the same direction as them?" asked the purple-haired teen, "I mean… we could always just walk off in another direction and would never have to see them again…"_

"_And most likely get mauled by a couple of monsters," the blonde replied coldly, giving him a glare to shut him up, "I think that this is probably the safest we'll get, and there's no chance we'll get lost."_

_Blinking, Dark shook his head and waved an arm around at the scenery. Then he pointed a finger at his friend, "We're in the middle of nowhere! Fields, planes and all that other random crap that we've never paid any attention to and now we're following those two and it's all okay with you!"_

"_And monsters," she added helpfully, "Now just shut up and keep walking."_

"_Don't tell me when to shut up--!"_

_Fuming to himself, Dark promptly ran into a large tree trunk and slid down to the grassy ground with a dull thud. He groaned, but Krad strode right past him and caught up with the other two._

_Being who he was, Daisuke beamed and then looked confused, "Hey, I was just talking about which town we may reach before dusk and… where's your friend?"_

"_Him? Oh… he thought he would take a nap for a while and then catch up to us in the next five weeks," she replied lightly._

"_You mean he ran into that tree? How could anyone miss it?"_

"_He did."_

"… _Hey, where'd Hiwatari-kun go?"_

"_Kyu! Kyu kyu kyu!"_

"_Er…"_

"_Kyukyukyukyukyu--!"_

"_I think that means he's hungry."_

"_Uh… what exactly IS that thing?"_

_Satoshi had decided to make a detour in case of wandering monsters he could prey upon, only to come across that jerk whatever his name was… the guy with the purple-hair and seemed to like arguing with him during the few hours they had met._

_Lying face-first in the dirt right next to the tall, tall tree, Dark wasn't even moving and the vampire kicked him lightly._

_There was no response._

_As much as he would have liked to leave the boy there for who knew how long, waking him up seemed to be the smart thing to do, so he did what he could; and that was by kicking him again._

_Daisuke and Krad were interrupted out of their 'what is With' conversation as Dark woke up and began throwing insults and other verbal barbs at the vampire, who had somehow rejoined them before they had known what was going on._

"_Let's go." He muttered._

_No one decided to question him, seeing that Dark was angry and fast approaching._

The next week was mostly getting to know each other and getting used to one another's company, as well as learning how to deal with wandering around all the time, and still being unable to find the star fragment they were supposed to find.

Again, no clues led to nothing for their search.

Some few meters away from the pyramid, the group sat around and said nothing to get rid of the gloomy silence that hung around them. Satoshi had wandered off – being it night and all – and the others were getting ready to go to sleep, if that was even possible with monsters prowling around.

Poking the small fire with a stick, Krad stared into the dancing flames and pondered about what was bound to happen in the end. Despite the fact that they still argued a lot and fought for no reason, she had to admit that being around Dark was a lot better then being trapped at home, and that was saying a lot. It was a questioning subject for her, to say the least, and there seemed to be no easy way to approach the topic.

Then again, Dark WAS already asleep and snoring close by, and the redhead on the opposite side of the flames seemed to have drifted off as well. So, left in the meandering of whatever she could call her mind and feelings, the blonde gave the fire another vicious little poke.

A week wasn't that long, though, was it? Really, they had many places to go and see, and although they had a job to do, it was actually quite fun to hang around the other three; even if they were a bit odd in their own degree.

And although Dark and Satoshi might not have noticed it, they actually did seem to get along fine… as long as they weren't trying to tear each other's throats out and the like. Even though the vampire obviously seemed to get along better with Daisuke anyway.

Oh, the confusing way the mind works…

It seemed to be a peaceful enough night, and the sky was just so… clear and full of stars. The moon was just there, but only as a thin strip of white. Thoughts about her home and Dark's floated back on their own accord.

How worried would they be now?

Shrugging it off as a non-existent issue in her life, Krad caught sight of Satoshi returning and took that as the sign that she could go to sleep. Not that she needed someone's permission for it before, but it was safer to have someone watching.

000

"Now let's all run around in circles and hope that we find that freaking thing soon otherwise the world is doomed!"

"… That has to be the stupidest thing I've heard from you since this morning; and you just woke up."

"Does that mean he broke a world record?"

"Sadly, that's a yes."

Dark glared at both Satoshi and Krad, who didn't do a thing but hold a light conversation which involved insulting said hyperactive person, which Daisuke fixed something for them to eat.

Clouds were beginning to gather in the sky as the redhead looked up to read what sort of weather they were going to have to plough through, and then shook his head. Not being the white fluffy normal clouds, it was obvious that they would have to go through a bit of rain now, although it was… whatever time of the season it was.

And the team weren't helping matters any further, as Dark joined him and sulked, which seemed to emit very depressing sort of waves.

Fate seemed to have a strange way of pushing a bunch of people together, and they all weren't even human. Hell, whatever Dark and Krad were in reality, they weren't saying, Satoshi was a vampire, which made the redhead the only mortal. Well, he wasn't complaining much, and as long as they didn't all kill each other in the end…

He didn't even want to think about that.

"Aw… Daisuke," Krad said in a mock-whiny tone, "Dark won't be nice and talk to us anymore…" All she got from that was a death-written glare and she smirked, "Why is he always so mean? All the girls loved him back at home…"

"Did they suffer brain damage before that?" Satoshi asked blankly, hood over head to keep out of the sun.

One could almost see the vein in Dark's head pop, "DAMMIT! THE NEXT PERSON WHO INSULTS ME GETS TO VISIT MY FIST!"

"Try not to overexert yourself," sighed Daisuke, pulling the older teen back down before he tripped into the flames, "And unless you want to walk in the rain, I suggest we eat while moving and get to the closest town possible soon." Although his tone was light, it was obvious that he was brooking no arguments, and no one was about to argue either.

As they walked to whatever destination, there was absolutely nothing to see and nothing really to do. Krad had given up on provoking Dark into another fight for the time being, Satoshi was just being himself, Dark seemed happy enough now that he'd eaten and they were moving, and Daisuke was praying that he wouldn't have to walk around in the rain. It did some very strange things to his already spiky hair, and he didn't want to have to deal with it already.

Clutching the cloak around her more tightly as a harsh breeze swept past them, Krad shivered, "Where is the next town anyway?"

"Not too far, I hope," the redhead replied, taking in his surroundings as he went, "Because it looks like I long and heavy storm I don't want to have to witness now--"

He was cut short as another sound reached their ears; something heavy, like wings of some sort, and they sounded just a bit too close to comfort. A sound that had no real identification and they stopped walking, trying to work out what it was and where it had come from.

The unexpected attack hit them from above.

000

If anyone is wondering, the big black things were mentioned in the first few chapters… then they disappeared, and then… they're back. XD Think of those huge flying dragon-looking things (in my opinion) from the Lord of the Rings. Big… and flying… yeah. And they can't find one piece of star! What does it look like? They have no idea!

And, for some reason or another, a word from our sponsors… I mean, characters (I'm poor. I need money. Can you give me some? **Gets poked in the head** Dang…).

"_If this story doesn't get completed in the next few hours, you're head will be on a pike." _(Yes, it's random, but whatever. XD) Two more chapters? Three at the most, I suppose. Who knows. But we're getting there!

Reviews:

neko-nya: Dark's very happy the way he is… except for lack of siblings so he's had no one to argue with for a long, long time… XD Try not to hurt people too badly otherwise… well… who knows.

Hakudoshi-chan: Thanks :)

kyo's little koneko: Heh, thanks. Dark has it rough… for some reason, I'm not sure why. And Dai and Sato just… clicked. I suppose.

Koway Oceshia: Well, he either gave it away or Krad stole it from him 'cause he couldn't use it XD Daisuke's the peacemaker at the moment… always will be, I suppose. And if they killed each other, they wouldn't be able to fulfill the prophecy, would they? Unless it involved a massacre somewhere… XD


	13. Fragment Twelve: Star Showers mean Pain

Disclaimers: If only… if only…

Warnings: Read the brackets of the chapter. I think that's all that's needed to be said.

Other: Well, isn't this an original idea (rolls eyes) but hey, something actually happens… in the end…

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Four separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Twelve: Star Showers mean Pain (aka The Pointlessness of it All)

Whatever it was that hit them, it was big, black, and had huge wings. So that meant something bad… right?

Well, that was the first thing that ran through Dark's brain – or lack of brain. Whatever – as the big black… something or other swooped over and around them. All one could think was that they had wings, were very big and they were doomed. Optimism came out in very strange ways, don't they?

Either way, it wasn't long before they were all rendered pretty much unconscious and they knew no more for the next… half an hour.

Fun.

000

_Drip… drip… drip… drip… _an inconsistent sound filled the air.

_Plink… smack… bang… _er… right…

_Then came the random curse. _Well, that was unexpected. Maybe it was time to wake up.

Daisuke stifled a groan of pain as he opened his eyes. At first he thought that he had gone blind – seeing as he couldn't SEE anything – but it then crossed his mind that they might have been out for a lot longer than they would have thought and it might have been night. Yeah, that would make sense.

But what would make MORE sense was that they were locked in a prison-like-dungeon-looking place.

Yeah, his brain wasn't working very well at the moment.

While he waited for his mind to focus, the redhead tried to remember exactly what had happened; they were walking, it was going to rain, and then they were hit by something big and black and had wings… oh, and the other three had been arguing, as per usual. It was so much fun before the knocking out had happened, and what had been the point to that? He just couldn't place it while his brain felt like mush. Very painful and soggy mush, so that couldn't be a good thing at all.

And he was talking to himself, which was a sure sign that he had just gone crazy. Maybe that thing had given him brain damage…

Eyes adjusting to the non-existent light, Daisuke sat up, but ended up regretting it because his head felt like it was going to explode sooner than later. Holding his head and looking around, it was an incredibly hard task because he still couldn't see a thing properly and it was starting to annoy him.

"Are you awake?" came a familiar voice and someone poked him in the shoulder.

"Yeah… where are we?"

"I don't know. But we seem to be the only two here as well…" was the annoyed reply, "When I catch those other two, I'm going to kill them…"

"After we work out what happened," added Daisuke, "Krad-san. Now, where did With go…" Groping around in the darkness for a moment, he came across rough stone, more stone, and even more stone. That was, of course, until he ran into a wall. Whining, he fell back and rubbed his head.

There was a small amused-yet-exasperated sigh as Krad crawled over to him, seemingly faring a little better with their prison with no light. Pulling him away she waved a hand in front of his forehead and muttered something offhand before informing him of what had happened while he was 'asleep'.

"I have no idea what that thing was that hit us, but whatever it was, it knocked us out cold almost instantly. All I remember seeing was black wings and the huge shadow itself," she muttered to herself, frowning self-consciously, "Then I woke up here. And you're here as well, of course. But no one has come by to check on us, and I haven't heard Dark or Satoshi anywhere."

The redhead inclined his head, "But why are we being held hostage… or whatever they're going to do to us?" He gnawed his bottom lip, "And With isn't anywhere here!"

Krad merely shrugged and stood up, thinking about how to actually get out of the place. They didn't have any weapons between them, Dark and Satoshi were nowhere to be seen or heard, and she really needed a brush for her hair. But then again, her hair wasn't in that bad of a condition, but it was the principal that was important! Not the fact that she actually didn't need to brush her hair because it was always perfect for some reason and now was not the time for her to be thinking in that way and they had to get out.

With a low mutter as her brain seemed to bounce in her skull, the blonde muttered, "Let's just hope that your rabbit-demon-thing hasn't been eaten or something and I'm sure he'll be fine for now… if he hasn't been eaten, anyway. But that's not the point; we have to get out first."

"Right," she heard the redhead get up unsteadily somewhere next to her, "Where do we start? I don't have any weapons and I'm assuming that we're locked in."

"I know that," she grumbled in reply, "But the most definite idea I've had at the moment is to blast the door down and see if we can find the other two and get out of here… wherever 'here' is."

Understandable but incredibly rash, Daisuke decided not to talk against it, seeing as they really did have no other choice in the matter with their current position; but before that, it was best to assess what they DID have at hand, and it was best not to let them jump to random acts to conclude their… death? Victory? Wait, victory to what? From what? Now he was lost.

Searching his pockets for a moment, the redhead pulled something out and squinted at it, "Well, this is going to be a lot of help, isn't it?" He mumbled to himself in a distracted voice, "Krad-san, do you have ANYTHING that might be of use to us?"

"Eh?" this caught the older girl off-guard, seeing as she had been staring at the door and wondering as to how to break it down, but collected herself and searched her own pockets for a minute. Eventually, she held out a couple of pins and hair clips of which she never used. "How about these? I never use them anyway and why?"

Daisuke took them with a semi-coherent 'thanks' and then moved over to the door, tracing a hand over where he assumed the lock was located while he explained to the bemused teen.

"This lock seems to be simple enough to break out of, you see, and with something pointy, I should be able to get this unlocked…" he fumbled for a moment and muttered something under his breath. Then there was a 'click' and the door swung open creakily, "And we don't cause so much noise in doing this."

"I didn't know you could pick locks," commented Krad, as their eyes adjusted with a dim light that seemed to come from one part of the dungeon-place-wherever-they-were. "Doesn't seem like you."

"Daichi – my twin – seemed to be obsessed with breaking into other people's houses and causing havoc," explained the redhead sheepishly, "Although she never stole anything, she just liked to go… through their stuff… to make idiots out of them. No one really ever liked her in the first place… but I have no idea as to why this was so…" He broke off and poked his head out of the room, peering about cautiously. The blonde took this all in and frowned again, not getting why anyone would bother doing that in the first place, or was it because that others didn't accept her that she acted in such a way.

"Anyone out there?" she asked.

Shaking his head, Daisuke stepped out and took stock of where they were exactly. Not that a lots of brick walls, no windows, some old candles flickering in brackets and the like was really going to help them with their location. They were in a basement of some sort, but that was about it.

Or a prison that just didn't have any windows and they were high, high above. Either way, none of this was helping.

Taking the lead, the two walked past more cell doors that were pretty much empty, and there was still no sign of the other two. This seemed to bug the blonde a lot and after every few doors they passed, she would kick a random one and see if there was anyone in there at all. Usually they received no reply when this happened, or it was just some deranged lunatic in there.

Half an hour later – or at least it felt like that – Daisuke sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Why does it always have to be so… dim in here? It's beginning to get on my nerves and I think walking around in the rain would have been better."

"Oh yeah, definitely," nodded Krad, taking a seat next to him on the stone cold floor, which was thankfully dry, compared to other places… "But that's not the point, is it? We have to find some fragment of some sort and we also need to find the other two before we can blow this place apart."

"Right… you're not serious about the blowing up part, are you?"

"You never know."

The redhead merely stared at her. "Okay… right…"

Falling into thoughtful silence, there really wasn't much that they could do until something happened. Looking up at the ceiling, the blonde mused thoughtfully over what had happened over the week and why they weren't getting anywhere; if she had her say in the matter, she would say that fate was just jerking them around for fun. And she was probably right about that as well.

But despite it all, she had also made some new… well, 'friends' seemed to be the only term she could use at the moment, although Satoshi still didn't seem to act like… anything while around her. Not that she cared; she had always silently agreed with Dark that he was a kind of creep. And a vampire, none the less, but then why did he get along so well with Daisuke and had no bitten him yet? Very, very confusing when it came to that… unless…

She shook her head and continued to think. Well, she and Dark had gotten along well with Daisuke, who was too kind for his own good, yet managed to stop the three of them from killing each other with every argument they had, and so naïve, it was funny.

Then there was Dark. He was… er… a jerk at the best of times, a complete idiot every other time. Then why did she care? Well, they knew each other beforehand, he was easy to hit over the head when annoyed and… he was just always there… for her… and handsome…

Wait, that did NOT go through her mind. She refused to believe such a thing and would have hit her head against the wall if Daisuke hadn't suddenly said something that allowed her to stop thinking such stupid, absurd, ridiculous thoughts. It was just so… scary. To her, anyway.

"Krad-san… should we get going?"

"Yeah, I'm all for it," she was going to kill Dark when she got a hold of him. That would teach him… "Although it's kind of hard to work out which way to go, seeing as we have no clue at all."

"True," Daisuke thought for a moment, "Wait… I've never asked what kind of magic type you have, did I?"

The blonde blinked at him, not getting what he'd just said, "Magic type?" she repeated stupidly.

"I mean, I have Summoning, I think Hiwatari-kun has some sort of spiritual magic of some sort, so… er… yeah. I was thinking that maybe your magic type might be able to help us… somehow…"

"Oh, well…" she thought for a moment, "I can use some basic healing… and… yeah, offensive magic is my forte. Does that help?"

"Er… I guess not."

"BUT I think, due to the fact that Dark and I are part of the higher-upper-something-or-other kingdoms," Krad waved a hand airily at the ceiling, "Our magic is sorta connected… or something. So I should be able to sense him if he's anywhere close by."

Daisuke nodded vaguely, "So you just kicking random cell doors was just out of frustration, then?"

"Yeah." She smiled, "You're like the blunt little brother I never had."

"And you're like the rational and somewhat violent sister that I wished I had instead of a twin who causes more trouble than she can handle and leaves me to clean it up," the redhead replied, smiling back as they got up to continue their – rather futile – search.

If only they knew where to start…

000

"So do you have ANY idea on where we are?"

Satoshi raised an eyebrow, "And why would I know that, you stupid prince-guy-who-can't-wield-a-weapon?"

"Because!" Stated Dark, jabbing a finger up at the ceiling to attempt to prove his point, "You're a vampire! That has to count as something, right!" With, who was sitting on his head, only 'kyu'-ed in agreement.

"Only that you're an even bigger moron than what even I thought," snapped the blue-haired vampire, "and that is saying a lot. So leave me alone."

The purple-haired teen huffed at this, but didn't say anymore; which was a surprise, seeing as whom it was that was being talked about. How long they'd been there and why, they had no clue and didn't have a watch, so there was no telling about what was going to happen next for them and… the usual.

Not like they could do anything in the first place, but they were NOT going to go and get themselves killed or… whatever. That wasn't the point and they really did need to find a way out.

"And this isn't any help at all!" Dark burst out all of a sudden, making Satoshi look up at him, a look of pure disbelief stamped on his face. Well, at least his glasses weren't broken, but it wasn't like he actually used them anyway. Being part bat or whatever really did have their advantages.

"What?" he asked blankly, not getting a thing that had just been said. In all honesty, he would not attempt to hold a normal conversation with this… guy-person-jerk-thingy, but they were separated from the other two… and he couldn't help but feel just that bit worried about the mortal whatshisname. And yes, he was worried a BIT.

Storming around the cell they were in, the purple-haired teen rambled on about something, "I know that usually I can just contact her through it but it's not working and does that mean that she's too far away and she's not even here or what? I mean, this is just so stupid and I don't get why we were put here in the first place and I'm sick and tired of it and I… well, I don't want to go home, but I want to get out of here and relax for a bit!"

All he got from this rambling was a long stare and then a short nod, "So you say… weirdo."

Dark bristled indignantly at this, "Hey, don't call me a weirdo, you four-eyed-not-even-a-real-vampire-jerk!"

That was the most sophisticated thing he could think of, and being locked in a damp cell wasn't helping either one of them. But they had no weapons with them and although they could see quite clearly, it wasn't much help to them.

"If only there was a way to contact them…" muttered the agitated teen a few minutes later, giving up on throwing the loudest tantrum possible, seeing as he was getting no reaction from the vampire.

"Scream for all you're worth," suggested Satoshi coldly, feeling that he would now be half-deaf for the rest of his life. Oh yeah, the stupid purple-haired jerk was going to pay for being such a nuisance…

Fortunately – or unfortunately – Dark actually did take the vampire's (rather sarcastic) advice. He winced and muttered a curse under his breath. This thing better blow over in the end, otherwise more people were going to die.

Actually… that wouldn't be a really bad thing, from his point of view. He couldn't care less about them.

000

Krad blinked and looked up, "Hey… did you hear something?"

Daisuke turned his head to look at her and shrugged, "I'm not sure. It was kind of faint, though…"

They both stopped walking and waited to see if they could hear… whatever they had thought they'd heard. It was echoing a lot, with the annoyingly consistent sound of droplets falling onto the stone floor and it was still cold and it was getting rather tedious, not to mention it was just plain tiring…

As they were about to give up and keep on walking to who knew where, they heard it again. And this time, it seemed highly familiar; insults, yelling/screaming, the fact that whoever it was, was highly annoyed… who else could it have been?

"If that isn't Dark, I don't know who it is," grumbled the blonde as the two made their way to where all the noise was coming from. Seeing as there were no guards running or anything close to that, it was safe enough to tell where they were, and Krad did the first thing that came to her mind; she blasted the cell door open.

As luck would have it, Dark was not in the way of the door, thus he was not injured, although he was then close to being strangled by his blonde-haired friend, who was now screaming at him for being an idiot.

"I see you're still doing well," commented Satoshi blankly, looking Daisuke up and door for a moment, "And how did you get out of… wherever you were?"

The redhead, who was cuddling With happily at this point, looked up and smiled at the emotionless vampire, "It was simple enough with the right utensils. At least you didn't kill Dark while you were stuck in here."

"It was a close call."

Daisuke laughed at this and then proceeded on trying to stop Krad from murdering Dark, but it wasn't going to be for a while yet that she would stop trying to cause him bodily pain.

Eventually, Satoshi just got sick with the two's antics and merely dragged them both apart and then proceeded on dragging them out of the cell room, Daisuke tagging behind and trying to calm the two down, who were still arguing heatedly despite the fact that they were being dragged around by the collars.

"You're a loser and a weakling and I can't believe you are just so stupid!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who blew that stupid door down or called those giant winged things!"

"Like hell you weren't! You're pathetic and I just can't believe it!"

"You said that before! And you knew that from the start! Just drop it!"

"As if! You shut up, you stupid prince-who-can't-even-wield-a-sword!"

"Watch it!"

With a groan, the redhead blocked his ears, but then stopped his mental lamentations of when were they going to end when With hopped off his head and bounced off in another direction. Over the arguing/yelling, Daisuke called for his rabbit to come back, but it didn't listen.

"With! Where're you going! Come back here!"

"Kyu! Kyu kyu kyu!"

Shaking his head, the redhead chased after his bouncing demon-bunny-friend, and, seeing as the others were still arguing, Satoshi dumped them in the middle of the hallway and followed after the mortal. They came to a spiral-like staircase that went upwards and, some few dizzying minutes later, they reached the very top of the tower, where With was currently bouncing on the window sill and looking pleased with himself.

"Is that all you came for?" asked Daisuke, scooping up With and looking out the window with a frown, "Well, we seem to be in a huge stone castle and it's a very far drop from here to the ground…"

Satoshi joined him and looked out as well, "Maybe we should just see if we can blast a wall down and then just get out of here. We have no reason to be here anyway…" he trailed off and they both fell silent as two huge winged-creatures soared around the place, as if on patrolling duty. "Or not."

"I have no idea where we are, though." The redhead frowned thoughtfully for a moment as they both began the descent back to where the other two were, "I mean, if I'd read it somewhere or something… how could anyone forget such a hulking great stone castle with only one window at the moment?" He got poked lightly in the side and he squeaked.

"Don't get distracted," muttered Satoshi, "This is a dangerous place to be hanging around in."

"Right. Sorry about that."

Returning to the other two – who were still holding their arguing match – Daisuke sweat dropped visibly and the vampire did his best not to join in because he was just that bit away from going insane.

The main reason for all the commotion was due to lack of noise and the fact that they were still lost…

… an hour later…

"We're never going to find our way out, are we?" snorted Krad as they all lounged about in a stony corridor that looked very similar to the one they had passed fifteen minutes back, "I mean, seriously."

"I TOLD you that we should have just blasted a wall and'd gotten out already!" stated Dark triumphantly. This just got wearied look in return and the blonde accidentally-on-purpose kicked him.

"Maybe we're going around in circles. But I don't know if that's really any help to us," Daisuke pointed out slowly.

"Kyu…"

"With, are you hungry?"

"Kyu kyu kyu…"

"Aah…"

Satoshi ignored them, trying to work out where they were still and if there was any way out. Okay, so they were in a castle in the middle of nowhere and they had run into NO ONE at all during this whole time. That made it very suspicious, but what were they to do about it? It was getting very annoying for them and they hadn't been able to find any sort of mark that would lead them to the right direction, and they'd been running around in circles for who knew how long already.

Oh, and they were all getting hungry, but that was besides the point.

"I suggest that Krad blows up a random wall!" Dark yelled, more to himself than anyone else. "Who's with me here!"

"Dark… you just keep getting stupider every time I talk to you…" was the only thing the blonde said and she turned away from him, arms crossed.

"Well, he does have a good point, Krad-san," Daisuke shrugged as she gave him a look that read 'have you gone insane as well!', "I mean, we're really not getting anywhere just walking around and I am pretty certain that we're walking around in circles a lot more frequently than I want to think it."

Seeing as she had nothing against that little argument/explanation, Krad gave in and nodded grimly, "Although I do have to say that doing this may cause the entire place to collapse, but I suppose no one really cares anymore."

"Yes, well, all I care about now is getting out of here, eating food, and getting some sleep," muttered the purple-haired teen, not looking very happy with the fact that Krad had refused to listen to him but had instantly agreed with the redhead. "Or the bathroom, that's always a good idea."

He got hit over the head by the blonde, "Don't give me a reason to blast YOU through a wall."

"… Fine."

As they all were in agreement now (some a little grudgingly, though) they chose a random wall to blast through and the other three took cover, leaving the blonde on her own. Concentrating for a moment, she mumbled a few words under her breath that the others couldn't hear, but it seemed to be doing something in the end.

Strands of raw power could be seen filtering through her hands and they flickered around, as if they had a life of their own. It looked rather odd, a little bit scary, and not exactly… well, it was just… there. Magic. Well, one could only think about it for so long.

Then they all forgot about it as Krad had just slammed both palms into the wall and it disintegrated instantly, causing a chain effect that meant every other wall behind it was smashed as well, leaving a straightforward path that led to the outside, which was still rather dark.

Daisuke's eyes widened as he stared, Satoshi seemed unaffected by the scene before him, and it looked like that Dark was used to it all the time and he just shrugged.

"Well, that seems to have worked well enough," Dark muttered, stalking over to her.

"Let's just go."

Not wanting to waste time – or get crushed by falling stone – the four hurried out and noticed that they actually weren't that far from the main entrance which was right next to them. Quite literally. Krad swore out loud before they all jumped out. Judging by the looks the other three passed to each other, they knew better than to comment about it in front of her.

"Kyu! Kyu!"

"Hey, there're the big black things that attacked us." The redhead pointed out, looking up right ahead of them. They all followed his example and they all watched with faint amusement as one of them swerved right into the stone wall and fell to the ground with a thud.

Satoshi shook his head slowly; with all the things that had happened since then, he really did want to go to sleep… or find something to drink blood from. He hadn't had any since… er… whenever the last time they were free… if you could call hanging around the other three could be considered as such.

"Okay… let's just go… then?" Dark sighed and grumbled something else after that, but they were all in agreement and made their way to the planes of the unknown place that only had a lot of grass and one or two trees somewhere far far away. Otherwise they had an undisturbed view of the sky and a half-moon; well, aside from the giant building behind, but that wasn't the point at the moment.

Some few minutes later – and some relative peace – they were STILL walking and, to say the least, very, very irritated. They weren't exactly happy, that's for sure.

Sitting under the shade of an exceptionally large tree, Daisuke, Krad and Satoshi watched as Dark proceeded on banging his head hard against the thick trunk, obviously incredibly out of it and wanting to… be rendered unconscious? Well, they weren't going to carry him, no matter what was said.

"Well, this isn't going to last us long," muttered Krad idly, closing her eyes, "Wake me up when something interesting happens. And that does not include Dark beating his brains out, although if he does end up killing himself…"

000

The sensation of being shaken by the shoulders was what woke the blonde up. What was even stranger than that was the fact that it was still night. Unless she'd been asleep for a whole 24 hours, or just a few minutes, it was kind of insane and she wasn't in the best of moods either.

"What is it?" she snapped.

"The moron went off and got himself struck by a meteorite," Satoshi explained simply, being the one to shake her.

"… Huh?" was all she managed to say, but since he was not going to give her a proper explanation, she merely shrugged and followed him a short distance away where Daisuke was currently trying to attend to Dark, who looked dizzy. "So what happened exactly?"

The redhead explained, "Well, there was a star shower of some sort and Dark was just running around trying to get rid of excess energy-" (like a dog, the blonde thought wearily) "-and he got hit by one pretty hard. Makes you wonder when he'll wake up… if he'll ever…"

"Oh, he'll wake up," she muttered mutinously, "I'll make sure of that. You two go and see where that thing fell. The thing that hit him," she clarified as they shot her perplexed looks.

Nodding, the two left without another word and that left the blonde to find a way to fix the purple-haired teen up. After performing a simple healing spell, she noticed that he hadn't woken up and frowned, trying to come up with a way to wake him up. Being who she was, Krad did the first thing that came to mind: she kicked him. HARD.

Dark jerked up with a painful yelp before collapsing back and glaring at her, like he had never seen her before in his life. That, or he was just incredibly angry, but she couldn't give a…

"I hate you." He grumbled.

"Well, so do I," she replied coldly, not the least bit happy that he hadn't thanked her for helping him out of a very painful sleep (he had been hit by something in the sky, after all).

"Er…" the purple-haired teen continued to stare at her, unsure of what else to say now. Sure, they could just go back to arguing like they always did, but the past week had really changed… things. And that was besides the very scary fact that it had only been a week. Oh well, they could deal with the time part later. And it wasn't like he was going to go home anytime soon so what the hey, it wasn't going to hurt anyone; save himself, "Hey, Krad?"

"What?" Oh yeah, she didn't sound happy.

"You could've just used CPR, you know."

…

…

…

…

Yes, very subtle.

Krad was halfway through braining Dark – blushing both out of embarrassment and utter confusement/anger – when Daisuke's voice reached them a few feet away.

"Hey, I think we found the fragment thingy we were supposed to be looking for! Come here, quick!"

000

Well there you have it; long-ish, pointless, highly confusing, and Dark is being bullied again. Dark bashing, hm? But look what they found. Isn't everyone satisfied now?

Only two more chapters left, I should say; the 13th fragment and the epilogue, which in turn leads to… well, I'll tell you when it happens.

Reviews:

Hakudoshi-chan: Whoa, damn! (stares back at it) You shoulda told me earlier! (sobs) Now I look like a moron and it's all your fault and… well, okay, it's my fault, and thanks for pointing it out (grins like a moron). And I'm too lazy to fix it cause… what would be the point? Aside from my stupidity… although if I could find a reason for it… I would? Whatever. Thanks anyway; much appreciated.

Devinedragon: Satoshi is… amusing? He usually doesn't say anything though… or is that why? (feigns clueless ness) Well, I suppose the fact that Dark is just an easy target for their… verbal barbs and physical punch bag, makes you wonder how he managed to live this long, huh?

Koway Oceshia: Heh, thanks! They all have their own separate (if not vaguely OOC) personalities that deserve to be credited! It's what makes them them and… that's the whole point! Isn't it?

kyo's little koneko: The will to live is… there. I suppose. And he gets out of the death-situation pretty fine, so… yeah. Good for him, but I doubt anyone's going to die… I'm too kind for that… (unless it's someone I hate or one of my own characters) Yeah, those two are really… interesting… aren't they? Or is it cause Krad's a girl now and Sato's a vampire?

kittenoftime: Randomness is a curse, I swear XD thanks!

neko-nya: Yeah, that's true. Didn't he go all crazy-like in your co-written slave fic whatchamacallit? Well, whatever, he's likeable enough. Violence causes pain and suffering and yelling and… yeah, it's also a great way to go off and hurt someone to solve the problem. Does that even make sense? I dunno, they can hit hard, from what I can remember. But I guess that's why. Intellectual arguments, though…


	14. Fragment Thirteen: Take One Last Step

Disclaimers: Since when have people cared?

Warnings: Walking around, bashing characters for their stupidity and… yeah.

Other: So they all run around… waiting for something to happen. Joy.

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Four separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Fragment Thirteen: Take One Last Step

Gathering around the piece of rock that was still smoking, Dark rubbed his forehead and pointed accusingly at it, although it looked stupid doing so. But he wanted to have his say in the matter, so that was what she was going to do.

"That's the thing that hit me over the head in the first place!"

Krad rolled her eyes, "Gee, I wonder why. You were always stupid enough to get run over by a parked wagon."

"Wagons have nothing to do with this!"

"It will soon!"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I'm going to go and hire a wagon and prove it to you!"

"What? You would seriously run over me!"

"No, I would leave it parked close by you and you'd get hurt!"

"Huh!"

The vampire blocked his ears for a moment, "Those two just never shut up."

"Maybe that's why they get along so well all the time," Daisuke suggested helpfully, ignoring the arguing and yelling in the background as he did so. With was sitting on his head and staring at the rock, but they didn't pay any attention to it for the time being.

"And maybe that's the reason as to why I want to kill them so badly."

"Oh, come on; they're not that bad and it is rather fun to hang around with them."

"Maybe for you, mortal."

"Aah… Hiwatari-kun…"

"What?"

"Why are you always so mean…"

"That's just me. You shouldn't worry about it."

"Then why do you always argue with Dark and don't talk to Krad-san and…"

"I think I get the picture."

"See; you're doing it again…"

Unfortunately for them, Dark had jerked briefly out of his argument with Krad and instantly began yelling random things at the two of them; where Satoshi ignored him completely and the redhead merely turned red and looked away, trying to remain as calm as usual.

The blonde put a stop to it by poking him in the ribcage and then turning their attention back to the smoking thing on the grassy floor. "You must be absolutely stupid to not notice that we've got bigger things to fry," she stated and pointed a finger at her friend; "And the fact remains that I can incinerate you to the point of oblivion, so leave those two alone."

Miraculously, he actually listened to her without complaining and they all gathered around the small, smoking rock that looked like… a rock. Well, that wasn't shocking, actually. The purple-haired teen poked it with a stick and then blinked at it with a perplexed look stamped on his features.

"How are you so sure that it's the thing we've been looking for?" he asked the younger two, who stared back at him, "I mean, it looks like any other rock we've walked past… except this one is smoking… and looks like a lump of metal…"

"And how does that make it any different?" Krad mimicked him sarcastically, "Well, you never were the smartest person alive, sadly, but if you knew your magic priorities, I suggest you try and identify them." Like the other two, she had instantly felt the vibes that screamed overly strong magic that could only mean the fragment they were looking for, but Dark was just so stupid that it wasn't much of a surprise that he couldn't tell one rock from another.

Said purple-haired teen blinked again and scratched the back of his head, "What about magic priorities? How does that make any difference?"

"…" the blonde hit her forehead as Daisuke took over and tried to explain, "The only guy I considered a friend after tripping him down the stairs is just so… impossible to comprehend… damn, he's an idiot…"

000

Taking the rock with them, the four trudged on until they reached a town that was quite a way away from where they had been standing with the giant castle/dungeon-like-prison place and were all grateful for the stop. During all this, at some point Satoshi had gone off and transformed into his little bat-like state (not that he liked it, but he wasn't in the mood to walk anymore), and was being his non-talking self, which was good since that meant that no one was trying to tear the throats out of another person who was walking right next to them.

"Well, now that we've got this… piece of rock, what do we do now?" asked Krad, taking a look at it with half-closed eyes. The fact that they didn't have their weapons and all their items was a blow – although all they really had was some food, clothes, and Krad's hairbrush – but they carried a good amount of gold with them, so it had been easy to pay for a room. It was all the rock's fault that they had lost everything, and she knew it. Although blaming an inanimate object seemed kind of insane, so it was best not to talk about it.

"I have no idea," Daisuke replied, sitting on his own, separate bed and staring out the window. It was a small, musty-smelling room with one window, four beds, and not much else, but it was comfortable enough for one day. They had already eaten and the vampire had gone off for the night, but the blonde's question had gotten the redhead thinking again. Now that they DID have the fragment piece they'd been searching for, what WERE they supposed to do? Sure, they could have mistaken it and that wasn't the thing, but it didn't make much of a difference in the end, if they didn't know what to do. Dark was already asleep, snoring loudly, and there wasn't much to see outside.

Krad frowned and shoved the rock into her pocket before pulling the blankets over her, turning away to stare at a wall. "Night."

"Goodnight."

Minutes passed in silence (although Dark's snores really weren't helping) and eventually Daisuke fell asleep as well; minus the loud snoring, thankfully. But the blonde just couldn't get herself to fall asleep. There was just too much on her mind to allow herself to actually go and rest, so she say up, pulled her shoes on and left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Dark ceased snoring and opened one eye instantly, not looking the least bit sleepy. Not wanting to get involved in any conversation which involved intellect – which Krad put so often, he didn't have any – he had decided to take the easy way out and pretend to already be asleep. But they were all thinking along the same lines now, about what they were supposed to do now that they had the stupid rock. If it was so important and special, how come nothing was happening? Sure, there had been the odd earthquake, the portal had blown up and there were those annoying huge black-thingy-winged-things, but that was about it. No mass armies swarming and terrorizing the place, nor was the world collapsing on top of them. No, all they got were four beings who argued and hurt each other a lot – although Daisuke tried to keep them at peace – looking for a rock that they now had and that was it.

…

What a waste of time!

Rolling onto his back, the purple-haired teen stared resolutely at the ceiling. Okay, so he and Krad came to this place for no real reason other than to get away from the authorities, but then they had to get dragged into this. It wasn't like they were going to do much else anyway, but it just seemed so… strange. Neither of them had any other close friends than each other – which had been separated by thirteen long and boring years – and got along scarily fine. Sure, there were the arguments and the fights, but they always made up in the end… and yet, ugh, he didn't even know what he was thinking anymore.

_Did he like Krad?_

Sure, as a friend and all. They got along fine.

_But did he like her more than that?_

He wasn't sure; and at this point he didn't care.

_But would he want to marry her?_

That was a rather odd question to ask, and they were still too young to think about it anyway.

_But if they WERE of age, would they marry?_

Who the hell was asking all these questions?

Sitting up and shaking his head, Dark tried to get those thoughts out of his head about if he liked Krad more than that and whatever else was there and got out of bed. True, he was no good talking about what their next move should be, but just lying there with his brain for company wasn't a very comfortable thought for him at the moment.

Glancing across the room, where Daisuke slept, he shook his head, pulled on his shoes, and left, closing the door softly behind him. Maybe after all this was over, he would question his feelings a bit more and then come into a conclusion; for now, they had more important things to take care of.

Whatever they were.

000

The sky was miraculously clear and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Well, except for the ones on the other side of the inn, but that wasn't the point for the time being. No one else seemed to be awake and the wind seemed to pass by her lazily, rustling the leaves and whipping away curtains as it went.

Krad wasn't in a good mood; not only had they hit a road block that involved a rock with magical properties, but lately her brain had been telling her things that didn't have anything to do with their mission. Who cared what she thought about Dark and whatever the hell her feelings were? She certainly didn't, and knowing Dark, he was more intent on eating food and insulting her than to care about her feelings. That was why they got along so well; she never was the type of person to go off and vent her feelings because she couldn't handle them.

But the fact that it was tugging at the back of her mind made her want to scream. Staring at the moon and stars was the only way to distract herself from it, and to think about what their next move was going to be.

So here they were, in the mortal realm, with monsters, with no weapons, and she no longer had her brush. Maybe it was the loss of her brush that was really getting on her nerves, seeing that… that… argh, she needed to brush her hair sooner or later because it wasn't going to brush itself, that's for sure.

Interrupted out of her thoughts as the entrance of the inn creaked open, Krad turned around and saw Dark step out. He caught sight of her and walked over, and she raised a brow.

"I thought you were already asleep." She pointed out.

"I was."

"Then why the hell are you out here then?"

"I could ask you that same question."

"Well, I couldn't sleep, okay? So leave me alone." She turned away with a small 'hmph' and went right back to staring at the twinkling sky, which wasn't all that interesting after awhile.

Of course, Dark being Dark, he didn't leave her alone, but merely stood silently next to her, allowing the silent tension to increase to the brink of awkwardness. Eventually Krad snapped and gave him a glare, who smirked back in return.

"What do you want here anyway?" she asked furiously, "Some people like to be left alone."

"And some people like to enjoy someone else's company," he replied calmly, "Besides, what difference does it make if I'm just standing here?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said sarcastically, "Besides the fact that you're standing right next to me might mean something to you. I don't like people invading my personal space."

The purple-haired teen shrugged lightly at this, but still didn't leave, making the blonde fume some more. But knowing Dark, he wasn't going to leave anytime soon, and she didn't plan to leave either, so they fell silent again and just stared at the sky with nothing more to say.

What would be the point of that? They would just start arguing again and the worse case scenario included waking up the entire village and getting kicked out, but their worst horror would have to be them talking like… normal-like. That was something that neither one of them wanted to face.

So they said nothing.

Of course, this also meant that the voices in their head – conscience, perhaps? – would not leave them alone now and that was just bugging the hell out of them and it was worse seeing as they were standing next to each other. Sure, they had never shown any interest with the people who had proposed to them before, but it didn't mean that they were going to show interest in EACH OTHER; that would just be too scary to comprehend.

And the stupid voices were still there; it was taking a lot of self-control to not bang one's head against something solid, but it was just so tempting. Better than anything else that could happen, and it was a damn boring night. Cold, too, but that didn't really matter.

Krad cursed slightly due to the fact that she had forgotten to bring her cloak with her, not wanting to go back to their room anytime soon. She was going through a self-reprimandation muse, only to be cut off when Dark gave her his own cloak.

"You sure?" she asked blankly. He nodded, not really giving her much of a glance because the voice was saying such stupid, stupid things. The blonde snorted but took it, and then commented, lightly, "If you stay out here for too long, you'll turn into Frosty the Snowman."

"And how's that gonna happen?" he asked.

"Oh, a few spells might do the trick, for one."

"Shut up."

She laughed for a moment and then fell silent again.

…

…

…

…

Geez, there wasn't much going on, and it was just so damn awkward when they weren't arguing. Way too awkward for its own good.

They had been standing there for a good half-hour until they both agreed that it was best to retire for the night, and most of that time had been silence between them as they argued against their brains and their feelings.

They also failed to notice that Satoshi had already returned, but was merely standing around, watching them intently. Not saying anything to each other, they retired for the night, and then there was silence.

000

Next morning proved to be a rather gloomy, considering the night/day before, and the village provided very little in the weapons department. Making do with what they had, they were gone as soon as possible and it was, once more, out to who knew where once more. But it seemed that Daisuke seemed to have a grasp of his surroundings now.

"I remember this place!" he commented to the other three, who were looking blankly around, no idea on what else to say. "I never thought we would end up here!"

"Huh? It looks like every other place, if you ask me," mumbled Dark, and indeed it was. It had the same path, trees, rocks and all other objects that the outside had, and how the younger boy could place this as anything of importance, he had no idea at all.

Krad was in silent agreement.

"Yeah, I suppose they all look the same," admitted the redhead, thoughtfully, "but there's the odd thing here and there I recognise and… well, it's just a feeling, I guess."

"So where are we headed for?" asked Satoshi, looking around him under the cover of his hood and cloak.

"Well, I'm guessing that we'll make it to the next town in a few hours, if we don't dawdle for too long," calculated Daisuke, "And from there… well, I have no idea where we're going to go next. Maybe if we drop by one of those bookstores or something, they might help us…"

"How are books going to help us?" the blonde blinked, not getting it.

"There are some useful books around, you know. And at this point, I'm willing to look up about this whole 'Star' concept. It may help a lot with this."

"Right…"

It was blissfully deserted, although the lack of sound could mean something, but there was not point in thinking about it. Of course, being bored and knowing that they really didn't have a proper weapon between them wasn't helping matters much. And it was very, very, very boring for them, but at least it wasn't cold.

Twenty minutes later found the group running after each other as Dark had gotten bored and had insulted Satoshi, who then decided it was time to kill him, and Daisuke and Krad chased after them, trying to calm everyone down before the vampire did some serious damage.

Restraining the vampire, the redhead decided it was time to ask him something random, if not only to distract him; "Hiwatari-kun, when vampires take blood from another living being, do they… you know… turn into a vampire as well?" he had been wondering about that for a long time, but it had never occurred to him that he could ASK.

"…? What an odd thing to ask…" mumbled Satoshi, but at least it stopped him from thinking about tearing Dark's head off; mainly due to the fact that Krad seemed to be doing a pretty good job without his help.

She shook him violently as he struggled for air, "Why must you ALWAYS think of the stupidest way to get people to want to kill you!" she yelled, "You moron! Idiot! I can't believe you're still alive after all this 'cause I'm going to KILL you when this is over!" She would have yelled some more, but a female's voice hailed them and they all ceased doing whatever.

"Hey, look who we found!" Sitting on the back of a wagon-type-vehicle-with-horses-or-something-of-the-like, Riku and Risa waved to them from the footpath. Both girls looked relieved on catching sight of them, but the four were lost, as always. Why was it that whenever something happened they were never told about it until it was too late?

"Harada-san?" Daisuke inclined his head and blinked curiously.

Risa squealed and hugged him, "You're so cute!"

"Uh…"

"Risa, you can be so random at times…" groaned Riku as she pulled her long-haired sister away before turning back to them, "We were hoping that you hadn't gotten too far."

Krad approached them, having let go of Dark, who was now sitting on the ground and muttering to himself, "Why? I mean, how did you know that we'd be here?"

The short-haired twin raised one finger at the sky airily, "Oh, you know, word gets around," she pointed at them at this, "And walls being broken down in giant castles don't happen on their own, you know." The blonde shrugged at this; it wasn't like it was anything major they blasted through; although it now had a hallway right out next to the entrance.

"But what are you doing here NOW?" asked Dark, emphasizing the 'now' as he rubbed his neck and grimaced.

"Oh, we're supposed to take you to the next town, 'cause Towa-san said so," Riku replied vaguely, looking up at the sky while the driver muttered something at random about wasting time. She ignored him and tapped a foot on the ground, waiting for their reaction. When none came, she just shrugged, rolled her eyes, and then pointed at the wagon, "Get on, then."

Exchanging looks, but not saying anything, the four clambered in and were followed by the twins, and the driver, still looking rather pissed off, didn't say anything and didn't even give them a backwards glance.

And so passed a very uneventful morning for them… and in which Daisuke and With somehow managed to make a game of cloud pictures, despite the fact that it was clouds all around them and no sky at all.

000

Looking up from her reading-cards-something-similar-like, Towa smiled faintly when she saw the four arguing heatedly about something while the twins just chose to ignore them. Standing up and adjusting her cloak, she walked over to greet them calmly.

"I see that you are well," she greeted them as they all tumbled out in a heap, "And I am glad of that, for one thing."

"That's nice and all," Krad snapped as she struggled to sit up, "But what are we supposed to do now? Not to mention that we got absolutely nowhere due to the fact that we weren't given any directions and then we got trapped in a stupid castle, only to lose our weapons, then got out and then HE," she jabbed a finger in Dark's eye, who yelped, "gets hit in the head with the stupid rock we've been searching for this whole time! How does that make any sense!"

The driver and his wagon-thing had already left, but as they were standing in the middle of the village, most of the residents had heard the blonde's rant. The seer blinked at this and then scratched the back of her head apologetically.

"Dear me, I forgot about that, didn't I?" she asked herself, "Well, that's the reason why I'm here then, correct?" She didn't wait for them to answer, "But of course. This way, come on, we don't have all day. And I'm glad that you found the final fragment, because if you hadn't by now, I would have been very worried about how slow you travelled."

Krad was still grumbling under her breath, but chose not to say much about it as they finally disentangled themselves away from the heap and then followed, somewhat sullenly to something closer to that, as they were led to some building…

"Are we going to a haunted mansion?" asked Dark.

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" the blonde muttered as she elbowed him hard in the stomach.

"…"

"…" Daisuke blinked and sweat dropped.

"…" Satoshi acted as if he had never met them before in his entire life.

With smiled. "Kyu!"

As it was, Towa did not take them to a building, but just a little way out of the village, while the redhead was turning his head to keep the building in sight. Satoshi would have asked WHY the mortal cared so much about looking at some buildings, but couldn't be bothered. So there they were, walking to an empty looking field were no one was and, eventually, the seer turned to face them, indicating for them to stop as well.

It was only then did they realize that Riku was missing.

"Hey, where'd-" began Dark, but fell silent at the frown he received.

"Now, back to the prophecy at hand," she began in a business-like tone, holding out a hand, "I'm assuming that you have the fragment with you?"

Stepping up silently, Krad passed the rock over and the seer inspected it for a moment before nodding, as if to confirm something. Placing it on the floor, she dragged each person/being one by one to a different area and commanded them to stay there. It wasn't exactly a far distance from each other, but, in the end, they ended up forming what looked kind of like a square… or something.

Risa frowned, inclining her head, as if sure that if she took another glance at it, it was going to look right; "Are you absolutely sure it's safe for them? I mean, aside from the fact that one of them DID blow a tunnel through a castle…"

The blonde scowled at her for this, but Towa was already answering the question, she there was no chance of her getting into an argument with another female, which would definitely lead to different results than just the current exchange of verbal abuse that she'd been doing for the past week. But it had been a lot more exciting for her than just being stuck at home and arguing with a mirror, so she really couldn't complain.

"We won't have to wait long… Riku said she would be back with… ah, there they are."

The short-haired twin was, indeed, approaching them, and accompanying her was…

"Daichi!" Daisuke just stared in shock, while With blinked, lost for… words. If that was possible for a demon-bunny of sorts.

The redhead grimaced at her twin brother as they finally came within hearing range, a bandage still wrapped firmly around her injured leg. But as she came closer to her brother, he stepped back swiftly, out of reach. The grimace changed to a grin.

"I thought you'd know that I'd choke you once I found you," she muttered, giving him a long look, "And leaving me and that blasted Hikaru with all the sleeping villagers in OUR room, what were you thinking!" She stepped forward quickly and shook him by the shoulders, "Not to mention that the VAMPIRE was there and god knew where you were and--"

"You really shouldn't do that." Satoshi advised blankly, one eyebrow raised beneath his hood.

Daichi blinked, her mind processing who it was, and then shrieked, hiding behind her brother in the process, "What's IT doing here!"

"You never change, do you?" asked Daisuke calmly.

"Oh, shut UP Dai-chan!"

Dark smirked, catching Krad's attention, "Now I'm beginning which one of you girls are more psychopathic, you know?"

The blonde growled and was about to teach the purple-haired teen a painful lesson, when the seer stepped in quickly; pulling Daichi away, she placed the distraught girl close by them and admired her handiwork. Riku nodded as well.

"Star formation, I should have known," she muttered. The five were now standing where the five points of a star would have been, with the fragment sitting in the middle, looking like a rock, as usual.

"Uh… did I miss something?" Daisuke looked around, as did the others, who were completely lost now.

"Well, to put it simply, you five have to do something and then the star's all okay and we can go on with out lives," prattled Risa, waving a hand around.

By the looks on their faces, they didn't understand a thing she had said.

"Thirteen Stars," grumbled Riku, elaborating, "Now that we have all the fragments, we have to 'repair' the star, which requires you four and the final fragment. As for your twin," she added, seeing as Daisuke had opened his mouth, "is like you, a part of you, so she also has to be there. Oh, and it completes the Star Formation, which will be most successful in this task that… well… I don't know what we do now. Towa-san?"

Frowning, the seer shrugged, "Let's just stand here and wait for something to happen then, hm?"

Daichi rolled her eyes at this, Dark grumbled, and Krad just sighed in tired defeat; she was going to have to kill something soon. Daisuke just gazed at the others in bemusement and then, eventually, Satoshi just gave up and muttered something at random.

Unlike the others, he was in tune with the lines across worlds and dimensions – damn him for being an abnormal vampire and all – and the stupid spirits of the dead were beginning to bug him with various instructions on what to do now, and he was just getting sick and tired of it. So he did what he was told, and then there was a flash of light and…

Nothing honestly happened.

Dark blew up at this.

"ALL THAT FOR NOTHING!"

Everyone else present decided not to say anything.

000

And there we have it; bringing up the suspense, only to shook it down once more! Am I amazing or what! And Daichi came back and Satoshi got fed up with everything… oh, and Krad and Dark are being bugged by the voices in their heads, talking about their feelings for each other. Which they refuse to believe (cough). One chapter left, though! The epilogue!

Reviews… er… apparently they're not allowed? I really shouldn't care, but when I first started here I got the whole warning thing cause one of my 'fics' was in script format. I never got over that. ANYWAY, to put it simply, I love all reviewers and thanks for taking the time to read and review!

That is, very special thanks to Koway Oceshia (Krad is very stubborn to her feelings; why else would she have pushed him down the stairs when they were young?), neko-nya (subtly is overrated most of the time, and your dog better get better) and kyo's little koneko (Satoshi would probably blow someone's head off before joining a circus… unless Daisuke was with him… XD) for reviewing this chapter! You all get cookies!

And… er… just the epilogue left so… it will explain all…

**Important! (in my eyes, anyway) Please read: **Okay, this is kinda stupid and I suppose there's no point doing this, but I've got a new DNAngel fic called The Night Never Ends and I really want you to go and check it out. Er… kinda gothic-based and in medieval times and… yeah.

_Summary to story:_ It was just a simple task… collect information was all they had to do… but there was more to the village that was abandoned so many years ago… so many secrets that had to be unraveled… and they were trapped there. The spirits of the dead haunt the village and no one wanted to hear them… until now. (parings are DaiSato and DarkKrad, obviously) AU.

So… I'm begging you… please read and review (think of it as a Koudelka/Resident Evil crossover of sorts). It would make me very happy… oh, and if you're a regular reader, if you want me to put up a chapter from one of my other stories, you can tell me and I'll try… to update… dang it all.

**End important notice.**


	15. Final Fragment: Stars to Moons

Disclaimers: Er…

Warnings: The… conclusion? Of sorts.

Other: Talk, talk, and more talk. And decisions. W00t.

000

"_Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Four separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"_

Final Fragment: Stars to Moons

So Dark was throwing a tantrum that was compared to that of a two year old, and Krad wasn't one to mince her words. That meant, of course, that the teen was now into another argument with the blonde, but at least they were out of the village so no one else could hear them.

Curious as ever – yet keeping a good distance away from them – Daichi inclined her head towards her brother, as they sat a bit away from the chaos and Satoshi stood by them, not paying them any attention whatsoever; or, at least, that's what it looked like.

"Are those two siblings?" she asked bluntly.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow at this and poked her in the shoulder, "That's a funny question to ask. Do they LOOK related to YOU?"

"Hey, you never know. I mean, Hikaru doesn't look related to us," she shot back, poking him, "So, does that mean that those two are going out or something?"

Satoshi made a noise that was a cross between a cough and a snort. Daichi frowned suspiciously at him but didn't say anything else; she still had no trust in him and she had made her brother listen to her ramblings about how dangerous it was to hang around a vampire. He had waved it off nonchalantly, saying that was okay once you got to know him, and she had sulked after that.

"I don't think so," replied the older twin, shrugging uselessly at this as he gave the vampire a questioning glance, "I mean, unless it's common for a couple to constantly try to tear each other's throats out… or should I be saying when Krad-san is constantly attempting to kill Dark…"

"Wow, I would have never thought she was a self-assertive woman," nodded the younger of the two, smiling, "But I suppose that's a good thing? Or is it bad?"

"Honestly, I have no idea anymore…"

"But it's nice to be back here, isn't it? I mean…" Daichi sighed and flopped back, "it's been so long, and I never thought that we would ever get a chance to see it again… or them…" she added thoughtfully.

"I know."

The vampire shifted slightly from his standing position, making the Niwa twins turn to face him questioningly. "What are you two talking about?" he asked eventually.

"Why should we tell--" began Daichi waspishly, but Daisuke shook his head at her and she pouted yet fell silent.

"This village," the boy explained simply, "was where our parents lived before their death. So it's our hometown."

Satoshi was silent for a moment, "I… see."

"We lived her for seven years before that," the redhead continued thoughtfully, looking up at the sky, "They taught us all they could, and we used to be under the training of Argentine-kun, so…" he stopped his reminiscing, "I wonder if he still lives around here?"

"…"

Daichi rolled her eyes as she completed the tale as quickly as possible, "Our parents passed away under suspicious circumstances, but before that they made out aunt and uncle promise to take care of us, so we had to move and live with them, which is a blow and all, but there's nothing that can be done about it. Okay? Happy now? Just don't ask anymore questions." She huffed and turned her back to the two, watching as Towa, Riku and Risa talked amongst themselves, not looking very happy.

"Sorry," muttered Daisuke, laughed softly at his twin's actions, "I don't think she really got over the fact that you aren't exactly human. Or maybe it has something to do with a failed summoning." He thought for a moment, "That's actually very plausible."

"So both your parents are gone." Stated Satoshi blankly. He ignored the glare that Daichi shot at him and focused entirely on the mortal he'd been traveling with for the past week, who nodded. He didn't seem as emotionally distraught as the vampire would have thought – being the kind-hearted mortal he was – but it was clear that he missed them.

"I know, but I think they already knew about it long before," he shrugged, before standing up, "I have to go somewhere. Daichi, can you make sure that the other two," he pointed at Dark and Krad, who were glaring at each other, "don't kill while we're gone?"

She nodded vaguely, not really paying any attention as to what she had been told, and the fact that she seemed more engrossed with watching the suspicious activity of the seer and her accomplices – or whatever they were – was taking over her mind for the time being. Daisuke rolled his eyes at this but got up anyway and walked off, aware that Satoshi was following him. Not that he really expected anything else to happen; seeing that his twin hated the vampire for no real reason and the other two were more intent on killing each other, so he didn't say anything about it.

The two walked for a few minutes – Daisuke knowing exactly where he wanted to go, the vampire following – and they finally reached what was a small cemetery with a number of gravestones scattered here and there. It looked very abandoned, and flowers that had been placed in front of the slates were dry and withered.

"Not many people like coming here," the redhead pointed out with a conversational tone, "something about being haunted… or it's just because they don't like to remember that someone has passed away." They stopped in front of two tombstones that both bore the Niwa surname and he inclined his head slowly, "They always said to live a happy life…"

"You really do miss them, don't you?" whispered Satoshi, shaking his head as he placed a pale hand on the boy's shoulder.

Glancing up, Daisuke smiled gently, "Yeah, but there's nothing that can be done about it," the smile widened, "and I think they're still around, don't you know?"

This got him confused, "Huh?"

"You know," he pressed calmly, "Spiritually based magic and all, right? You said so yourself when we first met, I think. And unless there are other spirits around that know about the fragments, well, I think I can place two and two together."

"… I… see…"

Okay, now he was definitely lost.

000

Having gotten over their argument for the time being, Krad stood around, admiring the sky and ignoring the fact that Dark was staring at her. Eventually, she cut through the silence.

"What d'you think's going to happen now?"

Throwing a random rock that he'd found on the ground, the purple-haired teen stood up and joined her, "I dunno. Towa told us herself that it'll take a long time 'til the Gate gets repaired, so we can't go home, and I don't think I really want to anyway."

"Because you're going to get told off?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "More about that whole thing about getting married. Seriously, I don't want to think about it and you're the only girl I ever get along with and that's cool, but I don't think I'd be able to stand hanging around an aristocratic freak of nature other than yourself."

The blonde, losing the thread of the conversation because Dark had said too much at the same time, blinked, "What?"

He shrugged, "Really, you're the only girl I know who's really cool and pretty and intelligent and independent and all, so why get married? I hated all the other females around."

"Er… right…" not really trusting her brain, Krad allowed it to drop, "But we don't really belong here, so we can't stay in one place. And Daisuke'll probably go home, and the vampire… well, who knows what he'll do."

"Probably stay with Daisuke, you know?"

"Yeah, I suppose." She rolled her eyes. They had been talking about it for the past week, when the other two had been out of earshot.

"It was kinda obvious." Dark pressed.

"Let's not go there for now."

"Well, I'm not gonna let that drop."

"Shut up. Let's go find the other two."

"Why?" He blinked.

"Just move your ass." She called after him as she began to walk off.

"Fine, fine…"

000

Towa shook her head, reading the cards before her. Riku and Risa stood behind her, looking grim-faced, somber even.

"Even now… still…"

000

"I thought if we'd find one of you, the other would be close by," commented Dark lightly, only to be elbowed deftly by his friend, who gave him a warning glare as they approached the younger two, who were sitting around the edge of the cemetery.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn't matter," Krad said calmly as they joined them and sat down, "But now that that's over, we're just wondering what're we supposed to do now?"

"Hm… I never thought of that…" the redhead frowned, "I've got school to finish though… the teacher's going to kill me… How about you, Hiwatari-kun? Are you going back home?"

The vampire next to him snorted, "You'd have to kill me first."

"Wait," Dark sat up and bent over to give a long look at the blue-haired vampire, "Aren't you already dead? How does that make any sense?"

"Shut up, you."

Krad shrugged as the two began to bicker for a moment, and then came to a simple conclusion, "Looks like we're all going separate ways then, hm?"

"I suppose," Daisuke nodded slowly. "You and Dark…?"

"Nope. We're all going somewhere else."

Seeing as the idea had just come to her, the other three were shocked by her words. Especially Dark, who… well, he was never capable of traveling on his own, as they had come to learn.

"What?"

The blonde waved it off, "Not forever, I mean," she gave younger of the two a small smile, "Sure, it's been only a week, but you're the only people I've ever liked being around with, so we'll meet in… let's say…" she held up a hand, "Three years. By then we'd have grown up and maybe sorted out our own problems."

Daisuke stood up, "I agree with that. How about back here? It's hard to miss."

Satoshi got up as well, "It's settled then."

Dark just stared at them like they'd all gone insane.

Krad rolled her eyes as she grabbed his arm and pulled him up, "You aren't going to die on your own, you moron. Even I know that."

"But…" he swallowed.

"We'll all be fine," she snapped firmly. Then she smiled, "And unless you want to admit that you need the protection from a girl…"

This hit a nerve, "Fine! We'll meet in three years!"

The smile widened just slightly, like she was baiting him, "Agreed."

A single promise, a passing of random trinkets and personal belongings, and then it was all over for the 'prophesized' group that had gotten along with one another… quite well. It wasn't like they were never going to see each other again. Sure, it was a long time until then, but when it came, it would be all worth it.

000

Calling their goodbyes, the once randomly-formed group parted ways in front of the seer's eyes. The mortal and his twin returned to their relative's, where they would get the telling off of a lifetime; the vampire would move off to more darker climates to blend in with the crowd; the sun child went off with casual ease and a light heart, getting the feeling that she would know her answers soon; while the moon child sulked for half an hour before going away as well.

And yet there was something still amiss, and that was not a good thing at all. Whatever they were fighting against still existed, and it was sure that they would be forced to join together once more.

Still alive… still there…

In existence…

"Will it ever be over?"

That was the question being asked.

And there was no answer.

000

"_This is my promise to you. In three years, we'll know what has to be done, what will happen; what we'll be in the end._

"_And then, I will know how to answer to your call."_

000 Owari 000

THE END!

… not. XD You know what that means? There's a sequel! (everyone freaks out) It's kinda obvious as to why there's one, because the DarkKrad and SatoDai pairing was non-existent; I know that. And it bugged me, but I had the idea of throwing in another story where they're older (Dark and Krad are 20, while Daisuke and Satoshi will be 17, duh) and, er… yeah!

So there was a lot of talking, complaining; not much else going on, and all in a week. Wow, that was quick… Not much else to say about this story, but I don't think I gave it the right angle to… well… something or other. Not sure on how to put it, but… seeing as there is more…

Anyway, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and kept with this story the whole way! As a way to say thanks, I did another… picture thing… and yeah. So unless you hate my artwork and don't wanna look at it (that's cool, I don't blame you), then you can find it at: http/www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 21945975/

Now, about the sequel: who knows when it'll be up. Er… yeah. Sooner? Later? Sometime that isn't now? I haven't really thought about it. But it will be more action, adventure, and, clearly, romance. Although not the sappy-sappy type; I doubt it anyway. And so it will be dubbed…

**Waning Moon **(Gee, who didn't see that coming?): Three years on, the four meet up again, and it's settled! Dark and Krad are getting together! But the Kingdoms protest against it and there are riots; not to mention that there is a darker evil plotting against them… DarkKrad and SatoDai (this time, for real! I'm positive about it!)

So look out for it and… uh… thanks again for everything! It means so much to me!

Hakudoshi-chan: XD

Koway Oceshia: They have feelings, but just don't want to admit it! XD The star piece was sent back to… wherever it originally was :P But there's more to come! Thanks!

hittocerebattosai: Thanks!

neko-nya: Yup, the voices are evil. They don't get together, it's just too weird for them (part of Krad's reason for splitting them apart) and new fics are fun! Completing them is another story. Matchmaker XP

kyo's little koneko:D

Devinedragon: Oh… okay? Well, whatever. Satoshi doesn't talk much in this story, does it? Or is it did he? Past tense? Present tense? Whatever. They can't get home 'cause the gate's still destroyed XD So they split.

O.o K-chan: Pointlessness was the whole point! XD Thanks!

_And so… I say goodbye… XP _For now, anyway. Bye!


End file.
